NCJ Number
180857
Date Published
1997
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings from two studies that solicited Minneapolis' youths' opinions about gun access, gun carrying, and gun violence prevention programs in two separate sets of focus groups.
Abstract
In the Gun Access Study, African-American males aged 15-17 and 18-22 were recruited to participate in the study. In the Gun Violence Reduction Study, 72 Minneapolis youth aged 12-18 were recruited for nine focus group discussions conducted in May and June 1997. Significant common themes emerged among the differences in the two studies. Findings show that youth can easily and inexpensively access guns. Youth perceive that it is difficult to avoid gun violence, and they feel threatened by it. Most youth believe that harsh penalties (such as treating youth as adults), tiplines, and gun buybacks are unlikely to work, but believe that coordinated patrols between probation and police officers are likely to be effective. The participants expressed a need for programs for youth who do not play organized sports. The reasons youth carry guns vary from practical needs (protection, situational conflicts, and retaliation) to image-related motives (sense of power, fitting in, hero worship). Youth are more likely to carry and use guns in situations that are poorly supervised, or where there is a perceived danger of violent encounters. Fights are viewed as an inevitable part of life, and youth have limited knowledge of and experience with nonviolent conflict resolution. The involvement of mentors, teachers, police officers, and adult program staff in youth's lives and activities is believed to be crucial to the success of gun violence prevention programs. There was concern that high-risk groups of youth are not reached by gun violence reduction programs. 8 references and appended comparisons of the two studies