NCJ Number
158653
Date Published
1994
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Contributors to this volume believe that psychology has made significant progress in the area of youth violence, particularly with respect to factors involved in such violence and effective interventions to reduce and prevent violent behavior.
Abstract
Because aggressive and violent behavior is learned, it can also be unlearned. Further, it is possible to create and maintain conditions in which violence is not learned in the first place. Although psychology has a great deal to offer in addressing the problem of youth violence, the field faces many new challenges in attempting to devise effective solutions. The field of psychology needs to develop new definitions of and perspectives on the youth violence problem and new partnerships with other disciplines. It is concluded that resources need to be directed away from hiring more police officers and building more prisoners and toward early violence prevention programs for young children and preadolescents. 3 references