NCJ Number
152052
Editor(s)
S Goodwillie
Date Published
1993
Length
269 pages
Annotation
This book provides transcripts and analyses of interviews conducted by teen journalists with other youth regarding the violence they have experienced and perpetrated, along with its impact on their lives.
Abstract
Children's Express teen journalists went onto the streets and into the schools and shelters to obtain one-on-one interviews with gang members, skinheads, and homeless teens, as well as kids who are making a difference in their school and youth programs. The interviews expose the ways in which children internalize, re- enact, and survive the violence of their worlds. The editor concludes that the interviews show violence to be like a plague across the Nation, afflicting children of all races and economic levels. The interviews show that children are beset by violence at home, at school, in their neighborhoods, among their peers, on TV, and in the movies. Of particular concern is the incidence of violence in the home and the number of parents rendered incapable of effective parenting by drugs, alcohol, or abuse from their own parents. Many youth who have been victimized by the violence of others have themselves perpetrated violence, as their victimization has filled them with rage, anger, and unfulfilled dreams. Some of the victims of violence offer hope for the future as they express a willingness to forgive the most heinous and hurtful acts of violence against them and wish for the opportunity to care for and love their children when they grow up. Issues revealed in the interviews include cycles of family violence and how to break it; mechanisms for coping with violence in the streets, the school, and the gangs; and the consequences of racism and homophobia.