For decades Hip Hop cultural practices have been disparaged for allegedly inciting and being responsible for the eruption of urban violence. This assumption, likely built upon pre-existing biases regarding the street culture and ethnic minorities where Hip Hop emerged, ignored how some of the genre's main elements -- particularly freestyle rap,…

Discusses risk factors associated with sexual intercourse, gang involvement, and alcohol and drug use among adolescents. Different patterns of risk are found to predict the three problem behaviors. Discriminant analysis substantiates that delinquency was differentially associated with low problem vs. high problem urban adolescents. Results support…

In Nicaragua the rise of urban youth gangs has led the government to adopt a crime-control approach that focuses on containing adolescent violence. Yet efforts to foil youth gangs have been ineffectual, largely because the nature of gang membership is little understood. This article presents the results of a qualitative study of youth gang…

This report presents the collective results of studies funded under the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention congressional directive. The studies confirm that young African-American males are disproportionately involved as offenders and victims of violence, that firearms play a large role in juvenile violence, and that gang…