A Conceptual and Clinical Model of Youth Violence in America

Abstract

This work is based on the assumption that youth violence continues to be a serious problem in American society. It is exacerbated by the history of violence, cultural factors, and the nature and quality of interpersonal relations encountered by youth in their daily lives. The metaphor of “a nation at war with itself” is used to highlight the fact that more Americans are regularly killed by other Americans at home than those killed in foreign wars. These conditions set the stage for the development of a psycho-social model of youth violence in America today. The model is a take-off from the author's earlier hypothesis that all violence may be construed as a powerful reaction to overcome powerlessness. It identifies four correlates of powerlessness: disconnection, anonymity, selfishness, and lack of adult-youth communication about violence. These variables are subsequently integrated into an explanatory and predictive device for one category of violence only, homicides committed by youth. The model may, however, apply to other categories of interpersonal violence as well. It is dedicated to the urgent task of curbing youth violence in America, and by implication, in other similar cultural contexts.