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Puberty is a potentially sensitive period during which the adolescent demonstrates rapid changes in aggressive/delinquent behaviour. Early onset of puberty has been implicated, not only in the earlier occurrence of [...]

A common finding in criminology concerns the influential role of peers for offending. Even so, there is minimal literature, even at the descriptive level, on the extent to which the [...]

Youth violence is a global problem. Few studies have examined whrther the prevalence or predictors of youth violence are similar in comparable Western countries like Australia and the United States [...]

Several researchers point to the anticipation of early death, or a sense of 'futurelessness,' as a contributing factor to youth crime. It is argued that young people who perceive a high probability of early death may have little reason to delay gratification for the promise of future benefits, as the future itself is discounted. Consequently, these young people tend to pursue high-risk behaviors associated with immediate rewards, which include crime and violence. Although existing studies lend support to these arguments and show a statistical relationship between anticipated early death and youth crime, this support remains tentative. Moreover, several questions remain regarding the interpretation of this relationship, the meanings that offenders attach to the prospect of early death, and the cognitive processes that link anticipated early death to youth crime. In this article, we address the limitations of previous studies using a multimethods approach, which involves the analyses of national survey data and in-depth interviews with active street offenders.

This study identified the predictors of youth violence and violent victimization among a sample of Dominican adolescents (N = 155) attending high school in a northeastern urban community. As part of a broader community-based needs assessment, students participated in an evaluation of a substance abuse prevention program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Correlations, principal components, multiple imputation, and stepwise regression analyses were systematically employed to develop a parsimonious model for predicting violence-related behaviors among Dominican youth. Findings suggest that early onset of alcohol and marijuana use was associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in violence-related behaviors or being the victim of a violent act. In addition, students who reported a lowered sense of safety were more likely to be involved in acts of violence. However, adolescents who reported depressive symptoms were less inclined to become involved in violence-related behaviors. Implications for culturally-tailored violence and substance abuse prevention programming efforts are discussed. KEYWORDS. Alcohol use, Dominican adolescents, marijuana use, violence-related behaviors.

This study examines the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) by examining relationships between SAVRY scores and violent reoffending during a 3-year period after sentencing. Two types of sentences were studied: a mandatory treatment order (N = 77) and a juvenile prison sentence (N = 40). The predictive validity of the SAVRY was significant for the two types of sentences. The predictive validity of the unstructured clinical judgment proved to be not significant. Support was found for the hypothesis that the juvenile court's sentence (treatment versus detention) might have been influenced by the unstructured clinical risk assessment of the mental health experts, even though this assessment is a poor predictor of violent reoffending. Keywords: sentencing; youth violence; risk assessment; SAVRY; predictive validity

Drawing on the South Australia Juvenile Justice (SAJJ) project dataset, this article analyses youth peer violence ('punch-ups') with a focus on girl-on-girl assaults. My aim is to address and explain [...]

Much attention is given to young men's experience with inner-city violence; however, this ethnographic study demonstrates that innercity girls are not necessarily isolated by virtue of their gender from much [...]

Who provides the drugs for youthful drug users? The myth of the older adult lurking around the schoolyard offering drugs to naive youngsters has been replaced by a less palatable [...], This study explores patterns of drug dealing in a multi-site sample of detained youth. Data are derived from the Drugs, Alcohol, Violence International (DAVI) study of male and female adolescents between the ages of 14-17 in four metropolitan areas: Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Montreal (Canada), Philadelphia (US), and Toronto (Canada). In a sample of 764 juvenile detainees, 60% overall reported predetention involvement in selling drugs, but this varied by site: 35% in Amsterdam, 61% in Philadelphia, 68% in Montreal, and 77% in Toronto. Typically, respondents were mostly selling drugs to friends and acquaintances. Cluster analysis revealed that teen drug sellers in our sample, despite the fact that many of them are involved in the sale of a variety of drugs, tend to specialize into three types of segregated markets: cannabis sellers, party drug sellers, and street drug sellers. Cannabis sellers are predominantly involved in selling marihuana and/or hashish, have relatively low transactions and sales, and violence is less common. Party drug sellers are distinguished by selling substances like ecstasy, powder cocaine, and amphetamines, and have high rates of violence. Street drug sellers' specialties are crack and heroin, and violence though common, is less prevalent than among the party drug sellers. These three types were found in all sites in our study, but were not equally prevalent across sites. KEY WORDS: Drug dealing, adolescents, detainees, violence, cross-national.

Introduction Gang research in the United States abounds (Chesney-Lind and Shelden 1992; Fong 1990; Fong and Buentello 2001; Huff 1990; Klein 1971; Sanchez-Jankowski 2003; Spergel 1995; Spergel and Curry 1995, [...], Interviews with ex-gang members, police officers, and correctional service personnel suggest that the risk factors for involvement in gangs are abundant for Aboriginal youth and young adults. Aboriginal ex-gang members report the burden of discrimination and labelling based on race, in addition to the structural inequality and lack of opportunity reported as causal factors to gang involvement by gang researchers. Disadvantaged and disillusioned, encouraged by gang-involved family and friends, Aboriginal youth turn to gangs for a sense of identity and purpose. Interestingly, decades after their formation, groups such as the Indian Posse, Manitoba Warriors, Alberta Warriors, and Native Syndicate may not only be relegated to the outskirts of legitimate society but are also marginalized within the criminal world, in their organization and behind bars. Understanding Aboriginal gangs requires consideration of contextual factors, including the presence and interaction of precursors to gang involvement. These factors contribute to their pronounced presence in prisons and the suggestion that despite decades of existence they are relegated to street gang status. Keywords: Aboriginal gangs, street gangs, systemic discrimination, prison gangs, identity, structural inequality Des entrevues avec d&apos;anciens membres de gangs, des policiers et du personnel des services correctionnels laissent croire qu&apos;il y a de nombreux facteurs de risque favorisant l&apos;association des jeunes et des jeunes adultes autochtones a des gangs. D&apos;anciens membres autochtones de gangs ont indique que le fardeau de la discrimination et de l&apos;etiquetage raciaux vient s&apos;ajouter a l&apos;inegalite structurelle et au manque d&apos;occasions signales par les chercheurs comme des facteurs de causalite a la participation a un gang. Les jeunes autochtones desavantages et desillusionnes, et encourages par des amis et des proches faisant partie de gangs, cherchent dans ces regroupements un sentiment d&apos;identite et une raison d&apos;etre. Fait interessant, plusieurs decennies apres leur formation, des groupes comme les <>, les <>, les <> et les <> sont relegues non seulement en marge de la societe legitime, mais aussi marginalises dans le monde du crime, en raison de leur organisation et de leur frequence derrire les barreaux. Pour comprendre les gangs autochtones, il faut tenir compte des facteurs contextuels, notamment la presence et l&apos;interaction de divers precurseurs etablis de l&apos;appartenance a un gang. Ces facteurs contribuent a leur grande presence dans les prisons, et ils suggerent que, meme si l&apos;existence de ces gangs remonte a plusieurs dwcennies, ils restent relegues au statut de gangs de rue. Mots cles: gangs autochtones, gangs de rue, discrimination systemique, gangs de prison, identite, inegalites structurelles

Abstract Approximately 9% of the homicides in Finland are committed by adolescents under 20 years of age. The purpose of this study was to investigate the offence and offender characteristics [...]

The current research analyzed the relationship between methamphetamine use and violence among young adults eighteen to twenty-five years old. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 106 respondents. The research was based primarily on in-depth, life-history interviews with individuals who used methamphetamine for a minimum of three months and who resided in Los Angeles County. Of the 106 respondents, 37 (34.9 percent) had committed violence while under the influence of methamphetamine. Males comprised two-thirds of the 37 respondents (N=24). Of the total sample, 38 percent of males and 30 percent of females committed methamphetamine-related violence, respectively. Overall, the 37 respondents reported fifty-four separate violent events while using methamphetamine. Of these fifty-four events, thirty-three (61.1 percent) acts of violence involved domestic relationships, nine (16.7 percent) of the violent events were drug related, seven (13 percent) were gang related, and five (9.3 percent) involved random acts of violence (e.g., road rage, stranger assault). The findings suggest that methamphetamine use is a risk factor for violence. There was, however, no evidence of a single, uniform career path that all chronic methamphetamine users follow. Violence is not an inevitable outcome of even chronic methamphetamine use.

This article examines issues surrounding the relationship between youth gangs and violent behaviour by considering the complex definitional and methodological problems surrounding these matters. By drawing upon a recent survey [...]

This article examines the experiences of 43 adolescents living in Denver, Colorado, from 1994 to 1996--the 2-year period following the peak of the youth violence epidemic. Where the dominant theories explaining inner-city violence tend to focus on disadvantaged communities, this study sampled youths from 5 neighborhoods with varying crime, poverty, family stability, and resident mobility rates. The findings demonstrate that, although most teens worried about the seemingly pervasive violence surrounding them, adolescents' experiences with and attempts to manage violence differed dramatically. By identifying a range of violence management strategies used by individuals living in resource-poor and resource-rich neighborhoods, this study examines the way that everyday interactions within and across a variety of contexts may theoretically increase violence rates. The implications of these findings for violence research and prevention are also discussed. Keywords: youth violence; neighborhood; interaction patterns

The evaluation of two Team Child programs in Florida that is designed to provide civil legal representation for troubled delinquent youth to improve their access to needed education programs, mental health services, and family services is presented. Results shows that the programs are not effective in reducing recidivism among youth but is effective in reducing the arrests rate of the recidivating juveniles after treatment for the Team Child group.

The authors address adolescent violence by promoting holistic health before symptoms occur and by using strength-based interventions to combat problems that already exist. A wellness model is presented, as is [...]

According to the authors of recent research published in the journal Violence and Victims, 'Sexual violence against women and girls in Israel is rather prevalent. To address this problem, the [...]

Five waves of longitudinal data from a sample of minority youth living in extreme poverty were used to examine the impact of chronic exposure to violence on chronic violent behavior. Given the rapid rate of developmental change during adolescence and the lack of multiyear studies of exposure to violence, semiparametric group-based modeling was used to identify trajectories of chronic exposure to violence (7% of youth), chronic violent victimization (9% of youth), chronic vicarious victimization (39% of youth), and chronic violent behavior (12% of youth). The multivariate findings revealed that (a) youth with chronic exposure to violence were 3,150% (or 31.5 times) more likely to engage in chronic violent behavior and (b) chronic vicarious victimization was a significant predictor of chronic violent behavior, after controlling for the effects of chronic violent victimization. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings as well as areas for future research are discussed.

Children with high dysregulated affect experience a range of emotional and behavioral problems, including aggression, delinquency, and low levels of prosocial behavior. Alongside this research, the psychopathy literature suggests that abnormally low levels of affect and emotional reactivity are associated with aggression and violence. The current study builds on prior research in the fields of affect regulation and psychopathy by testing the effects of affect dysregulation and deficient affect in predicting aggression and antisociality in 179 high-risk youth. Using structural equation modeling, results suggest that affect dysregulation and deficient affect are separate risk factors for aggression, as both constructs contributed independently to aggression while showing marginal relations with one another. Features of deficient affect, but not dysregulation, were robust predictors of violent and nonviolent offending. We discuss the importance of recognizing that diverse risk factors may lead to similar outcomes and highlight the heterogeneity in risk factors underlying aggressive behaviors.

Watching violence may beget violence -- that's the conclusion of a study by U.S. researchers published in the most recent edition of the journal Science. The researchers found that teens [...]

Although at least 20 students in the average American high school are at high risk for shooting someone, there is a less than one in a million chance that there [...]

We in the cable television industry have always prided ourselves on our commitment to the communities we serve, and have proven that commitment with many initiatives throughout our history. The [...]