NCJ Number
174187
Date Published
1998
Length
53 pages
Annotation
This article discusses various strategies for preventing youth violence.
Abstract
Research on the epidemiology of violence has identified two groups of offenders: life-course-persistent offenders and adolescent-limited offenders. The article discusses both groups in detail. In addition, it reviews: predictors of violence as well as protective factors that mediate or moderate the effects of exposure to risk; how violence spreads in adolescence, among adolescence-limited offenders; the foundations of prevention science; effective interventions that reduce known risk factors and enhance protective factors in childhood and adolescence; and the prospects for community-wide violence prevention. Successful intervention programs have offered both home visits (parent training) and center-based educational child care or preschool (aimed at improving cognitive skills). School-based programs for children ages 6 to 12 have effectively prevented adolescent problem behaviors, including violence. Prevention programs aimed at violence in adolescence concentrate on delinquent peer groups, the school setting, and youth gangs. References