For African American youth disproportionately exposed to community violence and the associated risk of externalizing behaviors, developmental assets that reduce the risk for externalizing behaviors and enhance adaptive coping should be explored. In a sample of 572 African American adolescents (M[subscript age] = 15.85; SD = 1.42), the current…

The present study tested for mediators of the relation between neighborhood risk characteristics and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a sample of 1,120 low-income urban adolescents. Results indicate that a composite of census tract variables predicted both internalizing and externalizing symptoms in this sample. Stressful life events…

This bulletin provides an overview of the problems that youth gangs pose. It pinpoints the differences between youth gangs and adult criminal organizations and examines the risk factors that lead to youth gang membership. Some promising strategies being used to curb youth gang involvement are reviewed. The proliferation of youth gangs since 1980…

This Bulletin describes the racial distribution of serious and violent offending among juveniles in the United States. It provides a picture of the short-term national trends for offending patterns by race and ethnicity and summarizes research findings on racial and ethnic differences in chronic juvenile offending. Various explanations are given…

Juvenile courts in the United States processed more than 1.5 million delinquency cases in 1994, representing a 5% increase over the 1993 caseload and a 41% increase over the number of cases handled in 1985. These figures are taken from "Juvenile Court Statistics, 1994," the latest in a series of annual reports on cases handled by courts with…

This report is the second update to "Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A National Report" published in 1995. Drawing on new analysis of statistical series developed by various Federal agencies, it provides answers to the questions most often asked about trends in youth violence and victimization. This report provides information that the wave of…

This book describes the experiences of an inexperienced young teacher who, with the support of parents and teenagers in a Los Angeles (California) neighborhood, created a one-room schoolhouse and began to teach 30 gang members, ranging in age from 13 to nearly 20. He had no teaching credentials or college degree and the school had a tiny budget,…

The Current Controversies series explores many social, political, and economic controversies, presenting the discussions in debate format. This volume focuses on youth violence. As youth violence escalates, concern grows over the safety of the neighborhoods, the victims of violence, and the future of violent youths themselves. The 35 selections in…

In 1996, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated 2.9 million arrests of persons under the age of 18. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) figures, juveniles accounted for 19% of all arrests and 19% of all violent crime in 1996. The substantial growth in juvenile crime that began in the late 1980s peaked in…

This Bulletin describes the strength and duration of changeable risk and protective factors for youth violence at points in youth development when they appear most salient. These predictors are potential targets for prevention and intervention. The quantitative results of a large number of studies were synthesized using meta-analysis procedures.…

The perception that violence is on the rise is supported by data showing a sharp increase in violent crime among juveniles since the mid-1980s. Although the overall national homicide rate has not increased, homicides by youth under the age of 24 have grown significantly in recent years. The rate of arrest of nonwhite juveniles for drug offenses…

This bulletin offers data on recent trends in juvenile violence, juvenile drug offenses, and gang-related juvenile offending, and describes prosecutorial responses to such offenses. Examples of promising prosecutor-led programs combating the illicit use of guns, violence, drugs, and gangs are also provided. These examples provide a range of ideas…

Describes a three-tiered approach that the Omega Boys Club of San Francisco uses to help stop violence among inner-city youth. Essential steps of the plan are to provide appropriate information through effective communication channels, to show youth alternative ways of living that allow them to release their negative behavior, and to teach them…

Three mothers whose children were connected to Dallas (Texas) gangs told their stories at the Fourth Joint National Conference on Gangs, Schools, and Community. It is said that gang members come from dysfunctional families, usually from homes where fathers are not present or involved in children's upbringing. In spite of a great deal of research…

What is known about gangs is reviewed and the information is brought up to date. The book covers reported changes in the structure and crime patterns of gangs, their age, ethnic, and gender characteristics, and their spread into almost all corners of the United States. The early chapters consider four issues that are major concerns in…