NCJ Number
178965
Journal
Social Justice Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 1997 Pages: 247-257
Date Published
1997
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article describes the new Youth Peace Movement and its efforts to bring peace to the streets in constructive ways.
Abstract
The Youth Peace Movement consists of a wide range of community-based groups led by dedicated activists, many of them with direct experience on the street, who aim to end violence through constructive development instead of repressive force. They are creating a multidimensional structure of interwoven personal, social, cultural, educational and economic supports that pull youth away from violence and toward constructive solutions. The Youth Peace Movement is significant not only for its notable efforts to end violence, but also because its work has direct ramifications for political strength and community sociocultural rebirth. Several core issues link the organizations within the movement: (1) an emphasis on individual personal responsibility and the development of positive community-focused values for youth; (2) understanding and belief in the positive potential of youth; (3) belief in a grass-roots approach, rather than a top-down bureaucratic model; and (4) the movement’s primary resources are those whom much of the wider society perceives to be the problem: the youth. Notes, references