Youth Violence Prevention - Preventing Youth Violence

WHY DO YOUNG PEOPLE BECOME VIOLENT?

Research on youth violence has identified certain personal characteristics and environmental conditions that place children and youth at risk for engaging in violent behavior or that seem to protect them from that risk. These characteristics and conditions — risk and protective factors, respectively — exist not only within individuals but also in every social setting in which they find themselves: family, school, peer group, and community.

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Risk factors can identify vulnerable populations that may benefit from intervention efforts but not particular individuals who may become violent. No single risk factor or combination of factors can predict violence with certainty. Similarly, protective factors cannot guarantee that a child exposed to risk will not become violent.

More research is necessary to identify risk and protective factors, to determine when in a person's development these factors come into play, and to discover why violence starts, continues, or stops in childhood and adolescence. However, research to date offers a solid basis for implementing programs aimed at reducing risk factors and promoting protective factors — and thereby preventing violence.

WHAT RISK FACTORS ARE CORRELATED WITH YOUTH VIOLENCE?

Risk factors for violence are different for youth with the early onset pattern compared to those with the late onset pattern. The most powerful risk factors for children ages 6 to 11 who commit violence at ages 15 to18 are involvement in serious (but not necessarily violent) criminal acts and substance abuse. Table 1 identifies these and other known childhood risk factors. The factors are ranked by the strength of their influence, as determined by statistical research undertaken for the U.S. Surgeon General's report.

TABLE 1 Early Risk Factors for Those Who Commit Violence at Ages 15-18
Strongest factors	Involvement in serious (but not necessarily violent) criminal acts Substance abuse
Moderate factors	Male gender Physical aggression (males only) Low family socioeconomic status or poverty Antisocial (violent or criminal) parents
Additional factors shown to play a limited role	Psychological conditions, including hyperactivity Poor parent-child relations, including harsh, lax, or inconsistent dicipline Weak social ties Problem (antisocial) behavior Exposure to television violence Poor attitude toward or performance in school Medical or physical conditions Low IQ Broken home Dishonesty Abusive or neglectful parents Antisocial peers
Source: Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General, p. 60.