Youth Violence Prevention - How to Prevent Youth Violence

The Facts

1. The youth violence epidemic of the early 1990s is not over. Confidential self-reports show that the numbers of young people involved in some violent behaviors remain at epidemic levels.
2. Most children with mental and behavioral disorders do not become violent as adolescents.
3. Most children who are abused or neglected will not become violent.
4. Most self-report data show that race and ethnicity have little bearing on a young person's participation in nonfatal violent behavior.
5. Juvenile offenders tried in adult criminal courts and incarcerated in prisons are more likely to commit felonies after release than young people who remain in the juvenile justice system.
6. A number of prevention and early intervention programs that meet very high scientific standards of effectiveness have been identified.
7. Weapons-related injuries in schools have not increased dramatically in the last 5 years. Compared to neighborhoods and homes, schools nationwide are relatively safe places for young people.

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8. Most young people involved in violent behavior will never be arrested for a violent crime.

Pathways to Violence: What Do We Know?

The most important conclusion of the U.S. Surgeon General's report is that youth violence is a solvable problem.

• What does the research tell us about youth violence?
• What are the major trends in youth violence?
• When does youth violence begin?
• Why do young people become violent?
• What risk factors are correlated with youth violence?
• Can other factors lead to youth violence?
• What factors protect against youth violence?
• What role do culture, ethnicity, and race play in youth violence?
• How does media violence affect youth violence?

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH TELL US ABOUT YOUTH VIOLENCE?

• The U.S. Surgeon General's report states that the greatest need is for the Nation to "confront the problem of youth violence systematically, using research-based approaches, and to correct damaging myths and stereotypes."
• The search for solutions to the issue of youth violence is challenging. Research conducted for the U.S. Surgeon General's report using extremely high scientific standards found that nearly half of the most rigorously evaluated prevention strategies did not achieve their intended outcomes. Perhaps these programs did not work because of a flawed program strategy—or because of poor program implementation or a poor match between program and target population. The research also found that a few strategies actually were harmful to participants.
• Many effective prevention and intervention programs are now in place, however. We have the tools and the understanding now to reduce, or even prevent, much of the most serious youth violence. We also have the tools to reduce less dangerous (but still serious) problem behaviors and to promote healthy development among young people.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR TRENDS IN YOUTH VIOLENCE?

• The Surgeon General's report states that between 1983 and 1993, deadly violence involving guns rose to epidemic proportions. At the same time, the number of young people involved in other forms of serious violence rose slightly.
• Since 1994, however, gun use and homicide arrests have dropped, and nonfatal serious violence has gone down. By 1999, arrest rates for violent crimes other than aggravated assault had dropped below 1983 levels, but arrest rates for aggravated assault remained almost 70 percent higher than in 1983.
• Despite the current decline in gun use and lethal violence, the proportion of young people who report their involvement in nonfatal violence remains as high as in the peak years of the epidemic, as does the proportion of students injured with a weapon at school. The number of young people involved in gangs remains near the peak levels of 1996.
• Young men—especially those from minority groups—are arrested disproportionately for violent crimes. But self-reports show that differences in violent behavior between minority and majority groups and between sexes may not be as great as arrest records indicate. Race or ethnicity by itself does not predict whether a child or adolescent is likely to engage in violence.
• Schools around the country are relatively safe compared to homes and neighborhoods. Young people at greatest risk of being killed in school violence are from a racial or ethnic minority, senior high schools, and urban school districts.

WHEN DOES YOUTH VIOLENCE BEGIN?

Scientists have described two patterns for engagement in violence: early onset and late onset. These patterns help to predict the likely course, severity, and duration of violent behaviors over a person's lifespan. In the early onset pattern, violence begins before adolescence; in the late onset pattern, violent behavior begins during adolescence. According to the Surgeon General's report:

• Most children with behavioral disorders do not become serious violent offenders.
• Most highly aggressive children do not become serious violent offenders.
• Most youth violence begins in adolescence but doesn't continue into adulthood.
• Young people who become violent before age 13 usually commit more crimes, and more serious crimes, for a longer time. Their pattern of violence rises through childhood and sometimes continues into adulthood.