This study investigates the effect of the threat of legal sanctions on intentions to commit three types of offenses with a representative sample of 744 officially adjudicated youth with varying histories of offenses and gang involvement. In a departure from previous research, the authors find small severity effects for property crimes that are not…

This article asserts that schools have tremendous positive power over the lives of students--the power to teach them academics; the power to socialize them to be engaged citizens; the power to transform their lives in positive ways--but schools also have negative power: the power to mark a student with a discipline record; the power to force a…

In response to a literature that has paid limited attention to the complex representations of Cambodian students, this article investigated the ways in which Cambodian male youth were problematized in school through Discourses that presented them as apathetic students and/or gang members at one California high school. In this study, the ways in…

"Reading Girls" captures the voices and literacy experiences of a diverse group of urban adolescent girls. The author--an experienced researcher and middle school teacher--intertwines investigations of multiple literacies, technologies, race, class, gender, sexuality, and gender expression to provide a provocative look at what helps and what hurts…

Recent concerns in the UK about youth disaffection, anti-social behaviour and gang culture have led to an increase in pre-emptive intervention strategies focused on the policing of groups of young people. This article explores the literature on youth/police relationships and the evidence that suggests that preventive police strategies may have…

In this paper we examine challenges faced by students of color in an intervention program [Opportunity] in a socially stratified community on California's Central Coast. The purpose of this paper is to name and discuss the problems students face: lack of support from the teaching community, the school staff and the administration of the parent…

While previous studies have investigated the relationship between substance use and violent behaviors among youths, the individual influence of specific drugs among males and females is poorly understood. Using the Nevada 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) Survey (N = 1,556), weighted logistic regression was used to assess the…

There is insufficient empirical evidence exploring associations between gang membership and school violence behaviors. Using a sample of 272,863 high school students, this study employs a structural equation model to examine how school risk and protective behaviors and attitudes mediate effects of gang members' involvement with school violence…

The current Georgia study examines middle-school-aged gang and non-gang members regarding the risk factors of gang membership and potential effects of these risk factors on academic achievement. Participants, 406 eighth grade students from a suburban middle-school, completed a 42-item survey assessing an array of demographic and risk factor…

Recent media attention has increased interest in behavioral, mental health, and academic correlates of involvement in bullying. Yet, there has not been much interest in investigating the co-occurrence of other health-risk behaviors, such as gang membership, weapon carrying, and substance use. The potential influence of contextual factors, such as…

Associating with a negative peer group is related to involvement in problem behavior, yet very little research has considered the role of negative peer group affiliations in the context of "real-world" community-based treatments for problem behavior. This study examined the effects of negative peer involvement on case closure status and treatment…

Our nation's schools should be safe havens for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence. Any instance of crime or violence at school not only affects the individuals involved, but also may disrupt the educational process and affect bystanders, the school itself, and the surrounding community (Brookmeyer, Fanti, and Henrich 2006;…

This report presents information provided by New Jersey public schools for the 2016-17 school year on incidents of violence; vandalism; weapon offenses; substance offenses; and harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB). The information is presented annually by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to the Governor and Legislature to…

Interventions aimed at preventing the important problem of gun injuries could be improved with an understanding of whether there are unique factors that place individuals at an increased risk of gun victimization. Much remains to be known about the victims of gun violence. The purpose of this article is to assess whether there are individual-level…

Adolescent gang members are at higher risk for internalizing problems as well as exposure to community violence and delinquency. This study examined whether gang membership in early adolescence is associated with internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior) and whether these associations are mediated by delinquency and…