A Study on the Effect of Neighborhood Context in the United States on Juvenile Weapon Carrying

Abstract

Possession of weapons among American youth is a significant factor causing fear of crime. In fact, gun attacks by youth are threatening the lives of citizens and causing serious violations of overall social safety. When youth use firearms, the most vulnerable place is school. Therefore, the possession of weapons by students on campus in itself causes serious fear. Such fear in school prevents students from carrying out normal academic activities and causes serious problems in non-academic school activities. Previous studies on youth weapon possession have investigated factors that can influence weapon possession behavior. However, the main explanatory factor revealed in most previous studies focuses on the influence of personal factors such as peer influence or home environment such as parents. Considering these differences from previous studies, this study was planned to explore the influence of regional factors on delinquency and crime as explanatory factors. The research method used logistic regression analysis to examine the impact of regional factors of youth residence on weapon possession. As a result of the study, regional factors were found to be a significant factor influencing the behavior of youth carrying weapons inside and outside of school.