Book Chapter

Juvenile Violence

McCandless, Sean, Taylor, Terrance J.

2016

Overview

In the following chapter, we employ a public health approach – specifically, a focus on the diagnosis and treatment of problems affecting public safety, to address three questions related to youth violence leading to homicide. First, what are the basics and scope of youth violence, specifically homicide? We reach three primary conclusions: (i) the problem of youth violence leading to homicide is especially pronounced for both black male and female youth in that black male youth are much more likely than white youth to be homicide victims; (ii) homicide victimization amongst blacks has dropped but is still higher than victimization for other groups; and (iii) homicides are usually intraracial (i.e., the victim and offender are members of the same race). Second, what is the diagnosis of the problem of juvenile violence leading to homicide? Out conclusions showcase that several pathways lead juveniles to commit homicides: (i) macro‐level factors, such as urban disadvantage, community and family structure, and culture; and (ii) micro‐level factors, such as biological, psychological, and psychiatric factors; and (iii) combinations of macro‐ and micro‐level factors. As part of this discussion, we review several theories that help explain this phenomenon. Third, we ask a multipart question related to what treatments are available, what the treatments should target, at which level treatments should be targeted, who should be involved, and what the efficacy of these treatments is. Findings reveal that: (i) several approaches are available at the level of communities, families, and individuals; (ii) numerous, collaborative actors are involved; and (iii) there are several programs that show promise in preventing the conditions that lead to juvenile violence leading to homicide. We end with a discussion of future research directions of this topic, namely: (i) clarifying and better testing causal linkages between risk factors; (ii) combating tendencies toward reductionism, determinism, and imputation; (iii) fostering multidisciplinary research; and (iv) improving understanding of the efficacy of interventions.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
• Subject: community structure / family structure / public health / urban disadvantage / violence and biology / violence and psychiatry / violence and psychology / youth homicide / youth violence / youth violence and treatments
• ISBN: 1118303156, 9781118303153