Weapon Carrying Among Inner-City Junior High School Students: Defensive Behavior vs Aggressive Delinquency

• NCJ Number: 159341
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 83 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1993) Pages: 1604-1608
• Author(s): D W Webster; P S Gainer; H R Champion
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Free online PDF and HTML access to the American Journal of Public Health is provided by the publisher 24 months after individual issues are released.

Annotation

Attitudes and experiences related to weapon carrying among youth were studied by means of a questionnaire survey of 291 male and female 7th and 8th graders in two public junior high schools in Washington, D.C.

Abstract

The data were collected in the spring and fall of 1991. Most of the youths were black. The analysis revealed that 47 percent of the males had carried knives and 25 percent had carried guns. Major risk factors for knife carrying were being threatened with a knife, getting into fights, and disbelief that having a weapon increases the carrier's risk of injury. Gun carrying was associated with having been arrested, knowing more victims of violence, starting fights, and being willing to justify shooting someone. Thirty-seven percent of the females had carried a knife. Knowing many victims of violence and being willing to justify shooting someone predicted knife carrying. Findings indicated that knife carrying was associated with aggressiveness but did not appear to be related to serious delinquency. Gun carrying appeared to be a component of highly aggressive delinquency rather than a purely defensive behavior. Tables and 16 references (Author abstract modified)