Youth Violence, US

Abstract

Youth violence takes many, often overlapping, forms. Consider different types of violent crime. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's “index”, or most serious, violent crimes include homicide (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter), forcible rape, aggravated assault (defined as an attack for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury), and robbery. None of these is specific or homogeneous with respect to behaviors involved or the circumstances of their occurrence. The strengths and weaknesses of official data concerning violent crime are reviewed, followed by discussion of what those data have to say about the involvement of young people in violent behavior, both as offenders and as victims. The social distribution of violent youth crime, by gender, race and ethnicity, and other categories of persons, is then described. Because most youth crime involves companions, the participation of young people in youth gangs is given special attention. Other forms of collective youth violence and the nature of the international contexts within which youth violence occur are noted. The final two sections seek to explain youth violence, reviewing what is known about its causes and pointing the way toward better understanding and control.