NCJ Number
152908
Date Published
1994
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This overview of theory and research on youth violence examines whether today's youth are more violent than in the past, how many youths are victims of violence or committing violent acts themselves, the major causes of youth violence, and what is known about the prevention and control of youth violence.
Abstract
Today's youth are more often the victims of violence, but about the same proportion of youth are committing serious violent offenses today as in 1980, and their frequency of offending is approximately the same. National self-report studies show that the age of highest risk for the initiation of serious violent behavior is age 15-16 and that the risk of initiating violence after age 20 is very low. Most violent behavior is learned behavior in the context of early family life. It involves weak family bonding, ineffective monitoring, and supervision; exposure to and reinforcement for violence in the home; and the acquisition of expectations, attitudes, beliefs, and emotional responses that support or tolerate the use of violence. Other contexts for learning violent behavior are the neighborhood; school and peer influences; the use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and firearms; and the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Since most violent behavior is learned, the general strategy for prevention and treatment interventions should be to reduce the modeling and reinforcement of violence as a means of solving problems and manipulating or controlling the behavior of others and to ameliorate those social conditions that generate and support violent lifestyles. Interventions should encompass individual-level interventions, neighborhood or community interventions, gun-control policies, and justice system responses.