NCJ Number
173914
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1998 Pages: 166-192
Date Published
1998
Length
27 pages
Annotation
Data from 200 homeless male street youths in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada were used to examine the roles of various subcultural, economic, and victimization factors in violent behaviors in this population.
Abstract
The participants were selected only if they were age 24 or under; had left or finished school; and spent at least 3 hours a day, 3 days a week hanging around on the street or in a mall. Data were collected from January to June 1993 in and around the downtown business core of the city. Participants were selected by means of a snowball sampling technique. They were interviewed for an average of 1 hour and 10 minutes and were rewarded for their participation with $10 in food coupons to a popular fast-food restaurant. Results revealed that the average participant was a full-time street youth who had been homeless for about 4 months in the previous year. Results also revealed that factors associated with the street subculture, including long-term homelessness and criminal peers, increased the study participant's risk for violence on the street and also provided rules concerning honor, protection, and retribution. However, the heavy use of drugs and alcohol on the street had only a minor role in explaining violent behavior in this population, and the violence associated with these substances appeared to be recreational. Findings suggested that the minimal economic resources and perceptions of a blocked opportunity structure also left the youths at risk for various violent activities. Findings also indicated that victimization on the street and a history of physical abuse in the home were related to the participants' violent behavior. Tables, notes, appended lists of variables, and 103 references (Author abstract modified)