NCJ Number
181076
Journal
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Volume: 567 Issue: Special Issue Dated: January 2000 Pages: 123-139
Editor(s)
Alan W. Heston
Date Published
2000
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Recent school shooting incidents have served to highlight the social problem of lethal violence by young people in the United States; the role of social and economic factors as causal agents in youth violence is addressed.
Abstract
While many factors need to be considered, the author argues that broader social and economic forces such as poverty, inequality, and social exclusion shape most of the problem of youth violence. These structural factors tend to foster violence indirectly through their impact on the institutions of family, school, and community. Using the organizing concepts of social support and informal social control, the author examines theory and research on the connections between economic inequality and social exclusion, family and community institutions, and violent youth crime. He argues that structural forces reduce the ability of families and communities to provide the social support and informal social control needed to prevent youth violence. Policy implications are briefly discussed. 35 references