essay for youth violence

Essay on Youth Violence

Students are often asked to write an essay on Youth Violence in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Youth Violence

Understanding youth violence.

Youth violence is a serious issue affecting many societies. It involves young people hurting peers who are unrelated and who they may or may not know well.

Causes of Youth Violence

Violence can stem from various factors like family problems, substance abuse, or exposure to violent media. It is important to understand these causes to prevent such incidents.

Effects of Youth Violence

Youth violence can lead to physical injury, mental health issues, and even death. It also impacts communities, increasing fear and reducing the quality of life.

Preventing Youth Violence

Prevention involves education, building safe environments, and providing youth with the tools they need to resolve conflicts peacefully.

Also check:

• 10 Lines on Youth Violence

250 Words Essay on Youth Violence

Introduction.

Youth violence is a pressing social issue that has profound implications for public health and social stability. It is characterized by various harmful behaviors among young people, typically involving physical harm, threats, or intimidation.

Root Causes

The roots of youth violence are complex and multifaceted, often rooted in socio-economic disparities, family dysfunction, and exposure to violence. In many instances, youth violence is a manifestation of the social, economic, and psychological stresses that young people face.

Implications

The implications of youth violence are far-reaching. It not only affects the physical and mental health of the victims but also impacts their educational attainment and future prospects. Moreover, it contributes to a cycle of violence, perpetuating a culture of aggression and fear.

Prevention Strategies

Preventing youth violence requires a comprehensive approach that addresses its root causes. This includes socio-economic interventions to alleviate poverty and inequality, educational programs to foster empathy and conflict resolution skills, and mental health services to address psychological issues.

In conclusion, youth violence is a complex problem that requires multifaceted solutions. By understanding its root causes and implications, society can develop effective strategies to prevent it and create a safer, more inclusive environment for all young people.

500 Words Essay on Youth Violence

Introduction: the scope of youth violence.

Youth violence is a global public health problem that inflicts heavy social and economic costs on societies. It is a term that encompasses a range of aggressive behaviors including bullying, physical fighting, sexual violence, and gang-related violence. It is an issue that requires immediate attention and intervention due to its potential to disrupt the social fabric and impede the development of young individuals.

The Underlying Causes of Youth Violence

Youth violence is a multifaceted issue with roots in various socio-economic, familial, and individual factors. Socio-economic inequality, for instance, creates an environment where violence can thrive. Youths from disadvantaged backgrounds may resort to violence as a means of survival or as a manifestation of their frustration and anger towards the systemic disparity.

Family dynamics also play a critical role in shaping a young person’s propensity towards violence. Exposure to domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect can normalize aggression, and young individuals may replicate these violent behaviors in their interactions with peers.

Furthermore, certain individual factors such as mental health issues, substance abuse, and low self-esteem can contribute to violent behaviors. These factors, often intertwined with socio-economic and familial conditions, create a complex web of influences driving youth violence.

The Impact of Youth Violence

The impact of youth violence extends beyond the immediate harm to the victim. It can lead to long-term physical and psychological trauma, affecting a person’s ability to lead a healthy, productive life. For the perpetrators, involvement in violent activities can lead to a cycle of crime and incarceration, limiting their opportunities for education and employment.

At a societal level, youth violence can perpetuate a culture of fear and hostility, hampering community development and social cohesion. The economic costs are also significant, with resources being diverted towards law enforcement, healthcare, and rehabilitation services.

Preventing youth violence necessitates a holistic approach that addresses the root causes. Socio-economic interventions such as improving access to quality education and creating job opportunities can provide a constructive outlet for youths’ energy and aspirations.

Family-focused interventions, including parenting programs and domestic violence prevention initiatives, can help create a nurturing home environment. Mental health services and substance abuse programs can address individual risk factors, while community-based initiatives can foster a culture of non-violence and mutual respect.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

Youth violence is a pressing issue that demands collective action. By understanding its causes and impacts, we can develop comprehensive strategies to prevent it. Investing in our youth is investing in our future. Therefore, it is imperative to provide them with the tools and opportunities they need to grow into responsible, non-violent adults.

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Youth Violence

The term "youth violence" covers a broad spectrum of behaviors that can include fighting, bullying, and gang-related violence. Exposure to violence as a child can cause emotional and physical harm, including negative impacts on health and well-being that can follow a child into adulthood.

Youth violence and its diverse ramifications have long been a major challenge for American police officers, school staff, and municipal leaders. Preventing youth violence is a critical issue for many communities across the country.

Youth Violence Statistics

The estimated number of youth arrests for violent crimes, including murder, robbery, and aggravated assault, has declined since the mid-2000s, according to a fact sheet from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

According to the report, the number of violent crime arrests involving youth reached a new low in 2020 -- 78% below the 1994 peak, and half the number of arrests in 2010 (pictured).

Causes of Youth Violence

Adolescence is a common period for becoming involved in violence and gangs. In schools, gangs often engage in threats and intimidation , physical and cyberbullying, fighting, and other criminal activities that may involve drugs and weapons.

Another type of youth violence, teen dating violence , is an issue that can lead to serious short- and long-term effects. Examples of teen dating violence include physical and emotional harm and stalking. Once a teen experiences violence in one relationship, research has shown that they are at significant risk of experiencing violence in another.

Learn more about teen dating violence

Effects of Youth Violence

The impact of violence in schools extends beyond the individuals directly involved. It can also disrupt the education process and negatively affect youth and adults in the school and the surrounding community.

Research has shown that youth who experience or perpetrate violence at school are more likely to bully others -- both in school or in other situations outside of the classroom.

Youth who witness or experience violence in their community are also more likely to use drugs and alcohol and become involved in violence themselves.

Young victims of crime are generally underserved , and the systems responsible for caring for them can be fragmented and ineffective. The Office for Victims of Crime is committed to improving services for all victims of crime, including those exposed to different forms of violence.

How To Prevent Youth Violence

Research supported by OJJDP analyzed interventions to reduce youth gun and group violence . The study found that the most effective programs used case management and services, enhanced surveillance, outreach workers, and public perception campaigns.

Mentoring programs are another potentially beneficial component of youth gang violence intervention. For youth impacted by or involved with gangs, mentors can help them navigate challenges in life and achieve positive life outcomes.

In fiscal year 2021, OJJDP awarded nearly $23 million under the Youth Violence Intervention Initiative to address youth violence and provide services for children exposed to violence.

Since 2022, OJJDP has awarded nearly $47 million through the  Enhancing School Safety To Address Youth Violence initiative to support schools and community-based organizations to address violence by youth.

Through the CrimeSolutions website, NIJ reviews programs and practices designed to prevent violence and provide services to those impacted by crime. The CrimeSolutions site includes information about a variety of topics , including crime in schools , youth gangs , and youth violence victimization .

April 24-28, 2023, is recognized as National Youth Violence Prevention Week . Founded in 2001, National Youth Violence Prevention Week allows communities to raise awareness and learn how to prevent youth violence to make schools and neighborhoods safer.

More on Youth Violence from OJP

Visit the following pages for additional information and resources produced or sponsored by the Office of Justice Programs and other federal agencies:

80 Youth Violence Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for youth violence essay topics? This issue is hot, controversial, and definitely worth exploring.

🏆 Youth Violence Essay Examples

📌 youth violence essay topics, 👍 youth aggression essay title ideas, ❓ questions about youth violence.

What are the causes of aggressive behavior and how to stop it? How to prevent violence among students? Are there any family and gender roots of youth aggression? Find the answers below. This article contains top titles and examples of youth aggression essays.

• The Main Causes of Youth Violence Access to Guns and the Influence of the Media Shooting is one of the most common forms of youth violence, and guns are the primary weapons of perpetrators.
• Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence? The violence and aggression that stains the youth of today, as a result of these video games, is unquestionably a cancer that ought to be uprooted or at least contained by parents, school leaders, governments […]
• Juvenile Justice System in “Sleepers” Film by Barry Levinson This gang was at the disposal of these boys and they would join anytime they wanted hence the community pushed these juveniles to join the gang.
• Juvenile Justice System Challenges Ignoring the facts does not change them, and whether the juvenile justice system acknowledges it or not; there are numerous challenges and unique issues facing the juvenile justice system, in the 21st century regarding the […]
• Youth Violence in Schools Paraphrase of the above quotation: The media desensitizes violence and increases aggressive and antisocial behavior, despite this, most youths are constantly exposed to violence and gore in the virtual world which is where they spend […]
• Implications of Youth Violence According to the fact sheet prepared by World Health Organization, youth violence presents a challenge to the global health and legal organizations because it encompasses a variety of acts that range from verbal abuse to […]
• Media and Youth Violence First of all, it should be said that such a spread of the influence of media became possible due to the development of digital technologies. With this in mind, it is possible to state the […]
• Youth Violence: Prevalence and Trends Failure to live up to the expectations of the society, parents, teachers, and even peers may lead to feelings of inadequacy. In order to regain this respect and get attention, the adolescents engage in violence.
• Youth, Crime, and Violence The book has been written in defence of the hip-hop culture due to the accusations pointed at it as being the cause of gun violence in society.
• Juvenile Justice and status offence: enforcement, sentencing and prosecution The role of the intake worker is to find the reason for the minor behavior and to determine whether the case should be dismissed, go for full trial or handle by the social worker and […]
• Connection Between Child Maltreatment and Youth Violence Results: Relative to non-victims, the results of the present study are expected to show a direct link between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of other modifying socio-economic factors.
• Juvenile Justice Case Management Under this model the manager in charge of implementing the treatment plan on the client is expected to have great regard for the juvenile and that such a person has an inward ability to discover […]
• Violent Video Games and How They Affect Youth Violence However, despite the overwhelming outcry against the youth playing violent video games, there are a number of researchers and advocates who oppose the idea of directly linking the exposure of young adults to violent scenes […]
• The Main Cause of Increasing Violent Behavior Among Youths Is Violence in the Media Although the question is controversial, it is possible to state that the media promoting violent films, video games, and music is the cause for increasing violent behaviours because the media provokes the young people’s reflection […]
• Running Head: Juvenile Justice System and Rehabilitation The children/teenagers who are sentenced by the juvenile court are not termed as guilty but as delinquent children However, the juvenile courts have the responsibility of handing over the children/teenagers to the adult court whenever […]
• An Analysis of the Causes of Youth Violence in the United States of America
• Youth Violence: The Problem is Not As Big As It Seems
• The Three Main Causes Of Youth Violence
• An Analysis of Drugs That Cause Youth Violence in America
• Social Disorganization Theory Of Rural Youth Violence
• Youth Violence Is Becoming An Increasingly Prominent Issue
• The Rise of Youth Violence and Factors Contributing to the Problem
• The Consequences Of Youth Violence In High School
• Video Games and Youth Violence: Is There a Connection
• Adolescent Violence And Youth Violence
• The Importance of the Issue of Youth Violence
• Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence
• Causes of Youth Violence in the Bahamas
• The Fear of Youth Violence and the Reasons Why Many Kids Resort to Violence
• The Effects Of Violence On Youth Violence
• The Contributions of Media Entertainment to Youth Violence in America
• An Analysis of the Outbreak of Youth Violence in the United States
• Youth Violence and Age-Appropriate Interventions in the Adult Correctional System
• Possible Solutions To The Youth Violence Problem
• The Effects of Youth Violence in People’s Lives
• Youth Violence: Identify The Cause And Work Towards Prevention
• Youth Violence: Is the Media to Blame
• Violent Video Games Do Not Contribute To Youth Violence
• The Relationship between Video Games and Youth Violence
• Animal Cruelty And Youth Violence
• The Depiction of Youth Violence in Boyle’s Greasy Lake
• The Complex Issue of Youth Violence in America
• Youth Violence and Gang Membership in America
• Youth Violence and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center
• Sociology: Columbine High School Massacre and Youth Violence
• Youth Violence and Its Relation to Communication Theories
• American History X And The Epidemic Of Youth Violence
• An Argument in Favor of the Notion That Violence in Media Causes Youth Violence
• The Problem of Youth Violence in Today’s Society
• Preventing Youth Violence with a Strength-Based Approach
• Impact of Youth Violence on Communities and Social Work Prevention
• The Effect of Family Violence on Youth Violence
• The Ending Gang And Youth Violence Policy Initiative
• Divorce In Relation To Youth Violence
• Do Violent Video Games and Violent Movies Contribute to Youth Violence?
• What Is the Most Common Type of Youth Violence?
• How Is the UK Tackling Youth Violence?
• Has Youth Violence in the US Increased Since the 1950s?
• What Are the Effects of Gang and Youth Violence?
• What Are the Main Causes of Youth Violence?
• Why Is Youth Violence a Problem?
• How Does Youth Violence Affect Society?
• Does Social Media Propagate Youth Violence?
• What Has Caused Increase of Youth Violence in Our Society?
• Can Youth Violence Be Stopped in U.S. Cities?
• What Can We Do to Decrease Youth Violence or Mass Shootings?
• What Are the Major Causes of Youth Violence in India?
• How Does Youth Violence Affect Education?
• How Does Social Media Affect Youth Violence?
• How Is Youth Violence Experienced in China?
• What Are Three Negative Effects of Youth Violence?
• How Does Social Media Contribute to Youth Violence in Schools?
• Does Canada Have the Same Level of Black Youth Violence Like in America?
• What Are the Protective Factors of Youth Violence?
• What Are the Mental Effects of Youth Violence?
• What Are the Effects of Youth Violence on Individuals?
• How Children Are Affected by Youth Violence?
• What Are Some Major Factors That Contribute to Youth Violence in Schools?
• What Are the Three Most Significant Risk Factors for Youth Violence?
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Strategies and Approaches to Prevent Youth Violence

Youth violence is a serious problem that can have lasting harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. CDC’s goal is to stop youth violence from happening in the first place.

In order to prevent youth violence, we must understand and address risk and protective factors  at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.

CDC developed a resource, Youth Violence Prevention Resource for Action [4 MB, 64 Pages] , to help communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent youth violence. This resource is available in English and Spanish [3.89 MB, 68 Pages] and can impact individual behaviors and the relationship, family, school, community, and societal factors that influence the risk and protective factors for violence. Strategies and their corresponding approaches are listed in the table below.

Everyone can help support teens and prevent violence

Parents and Families Can:

• Learn about links between teens’ experiences with violence and their health.
• Talk with teens about violence and ask how you can support them.
• Reach out to local programs to learn effective parenting practices.

Communities Can:

• Make teen mentoring, apprenticeship, and leadership programs more available.
• Collaborate with health departments and other partners to promote healthy and safe neighborhoods.
• Make use of effective social and economic policies that reduce violence.

Schools Can:

• Adopt policies and practices that create safe and supportive environments.
• Teach teens skills to navigate social and emotional challenges.
• Connect students to health and mental health services.
• Visit CDC What Works in Schools for more information.

Empower teens to be part of the solution. Directly engaging teens in preventing violence helps them:

• Make healthy choices.
• Be a leader and voice for change for healthier communities and schools.
• Advise community and school decision-makers.
• Promote respect and empathy with family, friends, and peers.

See  Youth Violence Resources for publications, data sources, and prevention resources for youth violence.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Youth Violence

Essays on Youth Violence

Brief description of youth violence.

Youth violence refers to harmful behaviors that are carried out by individuals under the age of 18. These actions can include bullying, fighting, gang-related violence, and even lethal violence. Addressing youth violence is crucial for the well-being of our communities and the future of our society.

Importance ... Read More Brief Description of Youth Violence

Importance of writing essays on this topic.

Essays on youth violence are significant as they provide a platform for academic exploration and personal reflection. By delving into this topic, students can gain a deeper understanding of the root causes, consequences, and potential solutions to youth violence. Furthermore, writing about youth violence can raise awareness and contribute to the prevention of such behaviors.

Tips on Choosing a Good Topic

• Consider current events and their impact on youth violence.
• Explore the psychological and sociological factors that contribute to youth violence.
• Look into successful intervention and prevention strategies for youth violence.

Essay Topics

• The impact of social media on youth violence
• The role of family dynamics in youth violence
• Exploring the connection between substance abuse and youth violence
• Analyzing the influence of violent video games on youth behavior
• The effectiveness of anti-bullying programs in reducing youth violence
• The correlation between mental health issues and youth violence
• Examining the role of law enforcement in addressing youth violence
• The influence of peer pressure on youth involvement in violent activities
• Exploring the connection between poverty and youth violence
• The impact of music and popular culture on youth violence

Concluding Thought

By writing essays on youth violence, individuals can contribute to a better understanding of this critical issue and promote positive change within their communities. It is essential to engage in critical thinking and research to address the root causes and potential solutions for youth violence.

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Essays About Violence: Top 5 Examples and 7 Prompts

Violence is a broad topic and can be sensitive for many; read our guide for help writing essays about violence.

The world has grown considerably more chaotic in recent decades, and with chaos comes violence. We have heard countless stories of police brutality, mass shootings, and injustices carried out by governments; these repeating occurrences show that the world is only becoming more violent.

Violence refers to the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy . From punching a friend due to disagreement to a massacre of innocent civilians, a broad range of actions can be considered violent. Many say that violence is intrinsic to humanity, but others promote peace and believe that we must do better to improve society.

If you are writing essays about violence, go over the essay example, and writing prompts featured below. 

Are you looking for more? Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

1. Videogames, Violence, and Vulgarity by Jared Lovins

2. street culture, schools, and the risk of youth violence by lorine hughes, ekaterina botchkovar, olena antonaccio, and anastasiia timmer, 3. violence in media: no problem or promotes violence in society by albert miles, 4. my experience of domestic violence by ruth stewart, 5. a few thoughts about violence by jason schmidt, writing prompts on essays about violence, 1. what is violence, 2. different types of violence, 3. can social media cause people to be violent, 4. is violence truly intrinsic to humankind, 5. causes of violence, 6. violence among the youth, 7. race-based violence.

“Parents allow themselves to be ignorant of the video games their children are playing. Players allow themselves to act recklessly when they believe that playing video games for ten, twenty, or even thirty hours on end won’t have an adverse effect on their mental and physical health. People allow themselves to act foolishly by blaming video games for much of the violence in the world when in truth they should be blaming themselves.”

Lovins discusses the widespread belief that video games cause violence and ” corrupt our society.” There is conflicting evidence on this issue; some studies prove this statement, while others show that playing violent video games may produce a calming effect. Lovins concludes that it is not the games themselves that make people violent; instead, some people’s mental health issues allow the games to inspire them to commit violence.

“The risk of violence was not higher (or lower) in schools with more pervasive street culture values. Higher concentrations of street culture values within schools did not increase the likelihood of violence above and beyond the effects of the street culture values of individual students. Our results also showed that attending schools with more pervasive street culture values did not magnify the risk of violence among individual students who had internalized these same values.”

In this essay, the authors discuss the results of their study regarding “street culture” and violence. Street culture promotes toughness and dominance by using “physical force and aggression,” so one would think that students who embrace street culture would be more violent; however, the research reveals that there is no higher risk of violent behavior in schools with more “street culture”-following students. 

“We have had a violent society before media was even around, and violence is just in our nature as human beings. Those who happen to stand against this are deceived by society, due to the fact that we live in a dangerous world, which will stay this way due to the inability to create proper reasoning.”

Miles writes about people blaming the media for violence in society. He believes that government media regulations, including age-based ratings, are sufficient. If these restrictions and guidelines are taken seriously, there should be no problem with violence. Miles also states that violence has existed as long as humankind has, so it is unreasonable to blame the media. 

“It was when I was in the bath, and I looked down at my body and there were no bruises on it. None at all. I was shocked; it was the first time I had lived in a non-bruised body in many years. I don’t know if any other women who got out of violent situations felt their moment. The point at which they realised it was over, they could now get on with recovering. I promised myself that I would never stay with a violent partner ever, ever again. I have kept that promise to myself.”

Stewart reflects on her time with an ex-boyfriend who was violent towards her. Even though he kept hitting her, she stayed because she was used to it; her mother and stepfather were both violent during her childhood. Thankfully, she decided to leave and freed herself from the torture. She promises never to get into a similar situation and gives tips on avoiding staying with a violent partner. 

“I went back and replayed the burglar scenario in my head. Suppose I’d had a gun. When would I have pulled it? When he ran out of the apartment? What were the chances I would have killed him in a panic, without ever knowing he was armed? Stupidly high. And for what? Because he tried to steal someone’s TV? No.”

In his essay, Schmidt recalls an instance in which a man pulled a gun on him, threatening him with violence. He chased a burglar down the street, but the burglar pulled a gun on him, leaving him stunned and confused enough to escape. Schmidt was so bothered by the incident that he got his own concealed carry permit; however, after reading statistics regarding gun accidents, he decided to reject violence outright and pursue peace. 

As stated previously, violence is quite a broad topic, so it can be challenging to understand fully. Define the word violence and briefly overview some of its probable causes, how it manifests itself, and its effects. You can also include statistics related to violence and your own opinions on if violence is a good or bad thing. 

There are many types of violence, such as domestic violence, gun violence, and war. List down the commonly occurring forms of violence and explain each of them briefly. How are they connected, if they are? To keep your essay exciting and readable, do not go too in-depth; you can reserve a more detailed discussion for future essays that are specifically about one type of violence.  

Social media is quite explicit and can show viewers almost anything, including violent content. Some sample essays above discuss the media’s effect on violence; based on this, is social media any different? Research this connection, if it exists, and decide whether social media can cause violence. Can social media-based pressure lead to violence? Answer this question in your essay citing data and interview research.

Many argue that humans are innately violent, and each of us has an “inner beast.” In your essay, discuss what makes people violent and whether you believe we have tendencies towards violence. Be sure to support your points with ample evidence; there are many sources you can find online. 

Violence arises from many common problems, whether it be depression, poverty, or greed. Discuss one or more causes of violence and how they are interconnected. Explain how these factors arise and how they manifest violence. With an understanding of the causes of violence, your essay can also propose solutions to help prevent future violence.

Youth violence is becoming a more severe problem. News of school shootings in the U.S. has set public discourse aflame, saying that more should be done to prevent them. For your essay, give a background of youth violence in the U.S. and focus on school shootings. What motivates these school shooters?  Give examples of children whose upbringing led them to commit violent acts in the future

Another issue in the U.S. today is race-based violence, most notably police brutality against African-Americans. Is there a race issue in policing in America? Or do they target offenders regardless of race? Can both be true at the same time? You decide, and make sure to explain your argument in detail. 

If you’d like to learn more, in this guide our writer explains how to write an argumentative essay .Grammarly is one of our top grammar checkers. Find out why in this Grammarly review .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Office of the Surgeon General (US); National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (US); National Institute of Mental Health (US); Center for Mental Health Services (US). Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville (MD): Office of the Surgeon General (US); 2001.

Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General.

Chapter 1 -- introduction.

The decade between 1983 and 1993 was marked by an unprecedented surge of violence, often lethal violence, among young people in the United States. For millions of youths and their families, a period of life that should have been distinguished by good health and great promise was instead marred by injuries, disability, and death ( Cook & Laub, 1998 ). This epidemic of violence not only left lasting scars on victims, perpetrators, and their families and friends, it also wounded communities and, in ways not yet fully understood, the country as a whole.

Since 1993, the peak year of the epidemic, there have been some encouraging signs that youth violence is declining. Three important indicators of violent behavior -- arrest records, victimization data, and hospital emergency room records -- have shown significant downward trends nationally. These official records reveal only a small part of the picture, however.

A fourth key indicator of violence -- confidential reports by youths themselves -- reveals that the proportion of young people who acknowledge having committed serious, potentially lethal acts of physical violence has remained level since the peak of the epidemic. In 1999, for instance, there were 104,000 arrests of persons under age 18 for robbery, forcible rape, aggravated assault, or homicide ( Snyder, 2000 ); of those arrests, 1,400 were for homicides perpetrated by adolescents ( Snyder, 2000 ) and, occasionally, even younger children ( Snyder & Sickmund, 1999 ). Yet in any given year in the late 1990s, at least 10 times as many youths reported that they had engaged in some form of violent behavior that could have seriously injured or killed another person.

The high prevalence of violent behavior reported by adolescents underscores the importance of this report at this time.

Americans cannot afford to become complacent. Even though youth violence is less lethal today than it was in 1993, the percentage of adolescents involved in violent behavior remains alarmingly high. The epidemic of lethal violence that swept the United States was fueled in large part by easy access to weapons, notably firearms -- and youths' self-reports of violence indicate that the potential for a resurgence of lethal violence exists. Yet viewing homicide as a barometer of all youth violence can be quite misleading. Similarly, judging the success of violence prevention efforts solely on the basis of reductions in homicides can be unwise.

This report, the first Surgeon General's report on youth violence in the United States, summarizes an extensive body of research and seeks to clarify seemingly contradictory trends, such as the discrepancies noted above between official records of youth violence and young people's self-reports of violent behaviors. It describes research identifying and clarifying the factors that increase the risk, or statistical probability, that a young person will become violent, as well as studies that have begun to identify developmental pathways that may lead a young person into a violent lifestyle. The report also explores the less well developed research area of factors that seem to protect youths from viewing violence as an acceptable -- or inevitable -- way of approaching or responding to life events. Finally, the report reviews research on the effectiveness of specific strategies and programs designed to reduce and prevent youth violence.

As these topics suggest, the key to preventing a great deal of violence is understanding where and when it occurs, determining what causes it, and scientifically documenting which of many strategies for prevention and intervention are truly effective. This state-of-the-science report summarizes progress toward those goals.

The most important conclusion of the report is that the United States is well past the "nothing works" era with respect to reducing and preventing youth violence. Less than 10 years ago, many observers projected an inexorably rising tide of violence; the recent, marked reductions in arrests of young perpetrators and in victimization reports appear to belie those dire predictions. We possess the knowledge and tools needed to reduce or even prevent much of the most serious youth violence. Scientists from many disciplines, working in a variety of settings with public and private agencies, are generating needed information and putting it to use in designing, testing, and evaluating intervention programs.

The most urgent need now is a national resolve to confront the problem of youth violence systematically, using research-based approaches, and to correct damaging myths and stereotypes that interfere with the task at hand. This report is designed to help meet that need.

The report makes it clear that after years of effort and massive expenditures of public and private resources, the search for solutions to the problem of youth violence remains an enormous challenge ( Lipton et al., 1975 ; Sechrest et al., 1979 ). Some traditional as well as seemingly innovative approaches to reducing and preventing youth violence have failed to deliver on their promise, and successful approaches are often eclipsed by random violent events such as the recent school shootings that have occurred in communities throughout the country.

Youth violence is a high-visibility, high-priority concern in every sector of U.S. society. We have come to understand that young people in every community are involved in violence, whether the community is a small town or central city, a neatly groomed suburb, or an isolated rural region. Although male adolescents, particularly those from minority groups, are disproportionately arrested for violent crimes, self-reports indicate that differences between minority and majority populations and between male and female adolescents may not be as large as arrest records indicate or conventional wisdom holds. Race/ethnicity, considered in isolation from other life circumstances, sheds little light on a given child's or adolescent's propensity for engaging in violence.

This chapter describes the scope and focus of the report and explains how the public health approach advances efforts to understand and prevent youth violence. Common myths about youth violence are presented and debunked. Uncorrected, these myths lead to misguided public policies, inefficient use of public and private resources, and loss of traction in efforts to address the problem. Documentation for the facts that counter these myths appears in later chapters. This chapter also lays out the scientific basis of the report -- that is, the standards of evidence that research studies had to meet in order to be included in the report and the sources of data cited throughout. Final sections of this chapter preview subsequent chapters and list the report's major conclusions.

• Scope, Focus, and Overarching Themes

The mission of the Surgeon General is to protect and improve the public health of the Nation, and this report was developed within the responsibilities and spirit of that mission. The designation of youth violence as a public health concern is a recent development. As discussed below in greater detail, public health offers an approach to youth violence that focuses on prevention rather than consequences. It provides a framework for research and intervention that draws on the insights and strategies of diverse disciplines. Tapping into a rich but often fragmented knowledge base about risk factors, preventive interventions, and public education, the public health perspective calls for examining and reconciling what are frequently contradictory conclusions about youth violence.

Although the public health approach opens up a broad array of considerations, the focus of this initial report is the perpetration by juveniles of interpersonal physical assault that carries a significant risk of injury or death. As restrictive as it may at first appear, this focus draws on a wealth of research into individual, family, school, peer group, and community factors that are associated with serious violence in the second decade of life. This report defines serious violence as aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and homicide; hereafter, it refers simply to "violence" or "violent crime," thus avoiding repetitious use of the terms "serious violence" or "serious violent crime."

The report views violence from a developmental perspective. It examines the interactions of youths' personal characteristics and the social contexts in which they live -- as well as the timing of those interactions -- to understand why some young people become involved in violence and some do not. This perspective considers a range of risks over the life course, from prenatal factors to factors influencing whether patterns of violent behavior in adolescence will persist into adulthood. The developmental perspective has enabled scientists to identify two general onset trajectories of violence: one in which violent behaviors emerge before puberty, and one in which they appear after puberty. Of the two, the early-onset trajectory provides stronger evidence of a link between early childhood experiences and persistent, even lifelong involvement in violent behavior. The developmental perspective is important because it enables us to time interventions for the particular point or stage of life when they will have the greatest positive effect.

The young people on whom this report focuses are principally children and adolescents from about age 10 through high school. Research reviewed in Chapter 4 shows that although risk factors for violence vary by stage of development, most youth violence emerges during the second decade of life. Appropriate interventions before and -- as is increasingly well documented -- during this period have a good chance of redirecting violent young people toward healthy and constructive adult lives. The window of opportunity for effective interventions opens early and rarely, if ever, closes.

• Secondary Areas of Concern

Many legitimate concerns and issues that are indisputably associated with violence by young people are not addressed in depth in this first report. Behavioral patterns marked by aggressiveness, antisocial behavior, verbal abuse, and externalizing (the acting out of feelings) are peripheral to the main focus of the report. These behaviors may include violent physical interactions, such as hitting, slapping, and fist-fighting, that can have significant consequences but generally present little likelihood of serious injury or death. Therefore, such behaviors will be discussed only to the extent that they can be considered risk factors for violence.

Research has shown that victims and offenders share many personal characteristics and that victimization and perpetration of violent behavior are often entwined. Nonetheless, this report does not focus on victims of violence perpetrated by young offenders. Rather, it blends offender-based research with traditional public health concepts of prevention and intervention in an effort to bridge the gap between criminology and the social and developmental sciences, on the one hand, and traditional public health approaches to youth violence, on the other.

The report does not address violence against intimate partners, except when such violence is committed by a young person. The plight of victims, many of whom are children and adolescents, is of the utmost importance, but a key element in helping victims of violence is understanding the perpetrators of violence. Particular categories of crime, such as dating violence and hate crimes (motivated by racist or homophobic attitudes, for example), are important manifestations of violence, including violence committed by youths, and they demand research and targeted interventions. The limited amount of research conducted in this area has focused on victims, so there is little scientific evidence about what distinguishes perpetrators of these specific types of crimes (see reviews by Bergman, 1992 ; Comstock, 1991 ; and D'Augelli & Dark, 1984 ).

Self-directed violence -- that is, self-inflicted injury and suicide -- is not covered either. In collaboration with other Federal health agencies, the Office of the Surgeon General developed a National Strategy for the Prevention of Suicide ( U.S. Public Health Service, 1999 ). In directing national attention to suicide as a major, yet largely preventable public health problem, the Surgeon General is bringing together health professional organizations, educators, health care executives, and managed care clinical directors to discuss gaps in scientific knowledge that impede efforts to decrease the incidence of suicide among Americans of all ages. The vast majority of youth suicides occur in the context of mental disorders ( Brent et al., 1988 ; Shaffer et al., 1996 ), a topic that was reviewed in depth in the Surgeon General's report on mental health ( U.S. DHHS, 1999 ).

Finally, the report does not propose public policy to reduce or prevent youth violence. The purpose of this report, like others from U.S. Surgeons General, is to review and describe existing knowledge in order to provide a basis for action at all levels of society. The last chapter identifies potential courses of action, including specific areas in which research is needed, but suggesting whether and how such action will lend itself to policy development is beyond the purview of this report.

• Youth Violence: the Public Health Approach

In October 1985, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop convened an unprecedented Workshop on Violence and Public Health ( U.S. DHHS, 1986 ). The participants agreed strongly that it was time public health perspectives and expertise were brought to bear on questions of crime and violence. Throughout much of the last century, these questions had been dominated by the social sciences and the criminal justice system. For the most part, health care efforts were restricted to the rehabilitation of convicted offenders ( Sechrest et al., 1979 ; U.S. DHHS, 1986 ). Dissatisfaction with both the timing and the outcomes of the "rehabilitation ideal" spurred the search for a more effective role for health care in addressing violence.

With its emphasis on prevention of disease or injury, the public health approach to violence offers an appealing alternative to an exclusive focus on rehabilitation. Primary prevention identifies behavioral, environmental, and biological risk factors associated with violence and takes steps to educate individuals and communities and protect them from these risks. Central to education and protection is the principle that health promotion is best learned, performed, and maintained when it is ingrained in individuals' and communities' daily routines and perceptions of what constitutes good health practices.

Public health practitioners and advocates have taken the lead in encouraging alliances and networks among academic disciplines, professions, organizations, and communities to make health concerns permanent public priorities and part of personal practices. In that tradition, participants at the 1985 Surgeon General's conference emphasized the importance of convincing the public that violence should be treated as a public health problem. As Marvin Wolfgang, a distinguished leader in the field of criminology, told conferees, "Our nation must feel as comfortable in controlling its violent behavioral urges and practices as it does in controlling bacterial, viral, and physical manifestations of morbidity and death" ( U.S. DHHS, 1986 ).

• Defines the problem, using surveillance processes designed to gather data that establish the nature of the problem and the trends in its incidence and prevalence;
• Identifies potential causes through epidemiological analyses that identify risk and protective factors associated with the problem;
• Designs, develops, and evaluates the effectiveness and generalizability of interventions; and
• Disseminates successful models as part of a coordinated effort to educate and reach out to the public ( Hamburg, 1998 ; Mercy et al., 1993 ).

The chapters in this report are keyed to each of these components of the public health approach. Chapter 2 presents research describing the magnitude of the problem of violent behavior by young people. Chapter 3 explores how violence develops and emerges over time. Chapter 4 summarizes research on risk and protective factors for youth violence; Appendix 4-B elaborates on the effects of exposure to media violence (including violence in interactive media) as a risk factor for aggressive and violent behavior. Chapter 5 focuses on the design, evaluation, and refinement of numerous programs and strategies that seek to reduce or prevent youth violence; Appendix 5-B provides details on specific programs discussed in the chapter. Chapter 6 suggests future courses of action, including the necessary next steps in research. A glossary of technical and discipline-specific terms follows.

• Myths About Youth Violence

An important reason for making research findings widely available is to challenge false notions and misconceptions about youth violence. Myths such as those listed below are intrinsically dangerous. Assumptions that a problem does not exist or failure to recognize the true nature of a problem can obscure the need for informed policy or for interventions. An example is the conventional wisdom in many circles that the epidemic of youth violence so evident in the early 1990s is over. Alternatively, myths may trigger public fears and lead to inappropriate or misguided policies that result in inefficient use of scarce public resources. An example is the current policy of waiving or transferring young offenders into adult criminal courts and prisons.

Myth: The epidemic of violent behavior that marked the early 1990s is over, and young people -- as well as the rest of U.S. society -- are much safer today.

Fact: Although such key indicators of violence as arrest and victimization data clearly show significant reductions in violence since the peak of the epidemic in 1993, an equally important indicator warns against concluding that the problem is solved. Self-reports by youths reveal that involvement in some violent behaviors remains at 1993 levels (see Chapter 2 ).

Myth: Most future offenders can be identified in early childhood.

Fact: Exhibiting uncontrolled behavior or being diagnosed with conduct disorder as a young child does not predetermine violence in adolescence. A majority of young people who become violent during their adolescent years were not highly aggressive or "out of control" in early childhood, and the majority of children with mental and behavioral disorders do not become violent in adolescence (see Chapter 3 ).

Myth: Child abuse and neglect inevitably lead to violent behavior later in life.

Fact: Physical abuse and neglect are relatively weak predictors of violence, and sexual abuse does not predict violence. Most children who are abused or neglected will not become violent offenders during adolescence (see Chapter 4 ).

Myth: African American and Hispanic youths are more likely to become involved in violence than other racial or ethnic groups.

Fact: Data from confidential interviews with youths indicate that race and ethnicity have little bearing on the overall proportion of racial and ethnic groups that engage in nonfatal violent behavior. However, there are racial and ethnic differences in homicide rates. There are also differences in the timing and continuity of violence over the life course, which account in part for the overrepresentation of these groups in U.S. jails and prisons (see Chapter 2 ).

Myth: A new violent breed of young superpredators threatens the United States.

Fact: There is no evidence that young people involved in violence during the peak years of the early 1990s were more frequent or more vicious offenders than youths in earlier years. The increased lethality resulted from gun use, which has since decreased dramatically. There is no scientific evidence to document the claim of increased seriousness or callousness (see Chapter 3 ).

Myth: Getting tough with juvenile offenders by trying them in adult criminal courts reduces the likelihood that they will commit more crimes.

Fact: Youths transferred to adult criminal court have significantly higher rates of reoffending and a greater likelihood of committing subsequent felonies than youths who remain in the juvenile justice system. They are also more likely to be victimized, physically and sexually (see Chapter 5 ).

Myth: Nothing works with respect to treating or preventing violent behavior.

Fact: A number of prevention and intervention programs that meet very high scientific standards of effectiveness have been identified (see Chapter 5 ).

Myth: In the 1990s, school violence affected mostly white students or students who attended suburban or rural schools.

Fact: African American and Hispanic males attending large inner-city schools that serve very poor neighborhoods faced -- and still face -- the greatest risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of a violent act at school. This is true despite recent shootings in suburban, middle-class, predominantly white schools (see Chapter 2 ).

Myth: Weapons-related injuries in schools have increased dramatically in the last 5 years.

Fact: Weapons-related injuries have not changed significantly in the past 20 years. Compared to neighborhoods and homes, schools are relatively safe places for young people (see Chapter 2 ).

Myth: Most violent youths will end up being arrested for a violent crime.

Fact: Most youths involved in violent behavior will never be arrested for a violent crime (see Chapter 2 ).

• Sources of Data and Standards of Evidence

Data Sources

Several comprehensive scholarly reviews of various facets of youth violence were published in the 1990s. Professional organizations, Federal agencies, the National Academy of Sciences, and university-based researchers have invested immense energy in reviewing research on the occurrence and patterns of youth violence, its causes and consequences, intervention strategies, and implications for society.

• NIMH Taking Stock of Risk Factors for Child/Youth Externalizing Behavior Problems ( Hann & Borek, in press )
• Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders ( Loeber & Farrington, 1998 ). A report of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Workgroup on Violence and Serious Offending
• The National Academy of Sciences' four-volume report Understanding and Preventing Violence ( Reiss & Roth, 1993 )
• The American Psychological Association's report Violence and Youth ( APA, 1993 ) and Reason to Hope ( Eron et al., 1994 )
• Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising. A Report to the United States Congress ( Sherman et al., 1997 )
• The OJJDP national report Juvenile Offenders and Victims ( Snyder & Sickmund, 1999 )
• The American Sociological Association's Social Causes of Violence: Crafting a Science Agenda ( Levine & Rosich, 1996 )

This report draws extensively -- but not exclusively -- on concepts, general information, and data contained in these documents. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributors to and publishers of these earlier studies. Whenever the report draws heavily on one of these master sources, that fact is noted. Specific references to these documents are provided where appropriate.

Contributors to and editors of this report have also consulted peer-reviewed journals, books, and government reports and statistical compilations. Some information not considered in prior reviews is contained in this report. When appropriate, the editors have drawn on dissertations and forthcoming work that they judged to be of high quality.

• Monitoring the Future survey conducted annually by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research ( Johnston et al., 1995 )
• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with Federal, state, and local partners ( Brener et al., 1999 )
• The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control's Firearm Injury Surveillance Study ( CDC, NCIPC, 2000 )
• Several longitudinal databases generated by the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice ( Huizinga et al., 1995 )
• The National Center for Juvenile Justice's up-to-date information on juvenile arrests for violent crimes ( Snyder, 2000 )
• The National Crime Victimization Survey (Rand et al., 1998)

Standards of Scientific Evidence for Multidisciplinary Research

The public health approach relies on a multidisciplinary, multijurisdictional knowledge base. Thus, in preparing this report, it was necessary to draw conclusions from research in psychology (social, developmental, clinical, and experimental), sociology, criminology, neuroscience, public health, epidemiology, communications, and education. Integrating findings and conclusions across disciplinary lines is never easy. The questions under study generally determine what approach scientists will take to designing and conducting research, and the approach often determines how investigators report their findings and conclusions. Even when scientific approaches are similar, investigators in different disciplines frequently employ different terminology to describe similar concepts.

• General data collection design. Data may be obtained through four major types of study design: experimental, longitudinal, cross-sectional, and case study. This report relies primarily on experimental and longitudinal designs, with some use of cross-sectional studies. (These three methods are described below.)
• Sampling, or the selection of persons to be studied. Individuals in a study may be recruited or identified through probability or nonprobability sampling, or they may be assigned to experimental or control groups by a random process, a precision or group-matching process, or some other means. This report refers to probability samples as representative samples.
• Validity and reliability of measures or instruments used in the research.
• Appropriateness and level of control incorporated into the analysis of findings. Level of control refers to efforts to take into account other factors that might be influencing data or responses from subjects.
• Appropriateness and significance of generalizations.

As noted earlier, four of the chapters in this report -- those concerned with magnitude, demographics, risk and protective factors, and intervention research and evaluation -- mirror components of the public health approach to youth violence. Each of these areas involves research from different disciplines and scientific approaches; therefore, the types of research designs and forms of analysis presented differ somewhat from chapter to chapter.

Experimental research is the preferred method for assessing cause and effect as well as for determining how effectively an intervention works. Many of the violence prevention programs reviewed in Chapter 5 meet the standard of rigorous experimental (or well-executed quasi-experimental) designs. In an experimental study, researchers randomly assign an intervention to one group of study participants, the experimental group, and provide standard care or no intervention to another group, the control group. A study with a randomly assigned control group enables researchers to conclude that observed changes in the experimental group would not have happened without the intervention and did not occur by chance. The difference in outcome between the experimental and control groups, which in this case may be the reduction or elimination of violent behaviors, can then be attributed to the intervention.

Ideally, researchers assign study participants to the experimental intervention or the control group at random. Randomization eliminates bias in the assignment process and provides a way of determining the likelihood that the effects observed occurred by chance. In this report, most weight is given to true experimental studies. In some cases, true experiments may be too difficult or expensive to conduct, or they may pose unacceptable ethical problems. In such cases, carefully designed and executed quasi-experimental studies are accepted as meeting the standard.

Evidence from an experimental study is considered stronger when, in addition to analyzing the main effects of an intervention, researchers analyze the mediating effects. This analysis permits researchers to determine whether a change in the targeted risk or protective factor accounts for the observed change in violence -- that is, did the intervention work because it changed the degree of risk? Without this information, researchers cannot explain the success of a program.

Chapters 4 and 5 make use of meta-analyses. Meta-analysis describes a statistical method for evaluating the conclusions of numerous studies to determine the average size and consistency of the effect of a particular treatment or intervention strategy common to all of the studies. The technique makes the results of different studies comparable so that an overall effect can be identified. A meta-analysis determines whether there is consistent evidence that a treatment has a statistically significant effect, and it estimates the average size of that effect.

Epidemiological research, reviewed in Chapters 2 and 3 , focuses primarily on general population studies that use probability samples and cross-sectional or longitudinal designs ( Kleinbaum et al., 1982 ; Lilienfeld & Lilienfeld, 1980 ; Rothman & Greenland, 1998 ). Probability samples let researchers generalize from their study to the entire population sampled. Cross-sectional studies involve a single contact with participants for data collection at a given point in time. Multiple cross-sectional studies involve several waves of data collection over time (annually, for example) but typically with different participants at each contact and therefore with no way to link a given person's responses at one time with those at a later time. Prospective longitudinal and panel designs involve multiple contacts with the same study participants over time. Responses at one data collection point can be linked to responses at a later point. Longitudinal studies are used for research on individual development or growth.

Longitudinal designs are necessary to estimate the predictive effect of a given risk or protective factor on later violent behavior. Although cross-sectional designs are sometimes used, they cannot provide estimates of individual-level predictive effects. They can establish simultaneous relationships between risk factors and violence, but conclusions drawn from cross-sectional studies are not as strong as those drawn from longitudinal studies. In cross-sectional studies, cause and effect are unclear and reciprocal effects may inflate the estimates.

Experimental studies are sometimes used to estimate the effects of risk and protective factors, but this practice is rare because of ethical and cost considerations. For example, it would be unthinkable to introduce drug use to a group of adolescents to see whether drugs are a risk factor for violence. However, it would be ethical to conduct a predictive study that selects persons who are not violent and follows them over time. Those who began to use illicit substances would be compared with those who did not, to determine whether drug users are more likely to become involved in violent behaviors at some later date. If they were, then the results would indicate that drug use predicts violence or that drug use increases the probability of future violence.

Level of Evidence

No single study, however well designed, is sufficient to establish causation or, in intervention research, efficacy or effectiveness. Findings must be replicated before gaining widespread acceptance by the scientific community. The strength of the evidence amassed for any scientific fact or conclusion is referred to as the level of evidence.

This report does not rely on any single study for conclusions. Only findings that have been replicated in several studies, consistently and with no contrary results, are reported as part of the contemporary knowledge base. When the report cites unreplicated studies that are of high quality, that have not been refuted by other evidence, and that point in a clear direction, the findings are described as tentative or suggestive. These findings may point to future research needs and directions, but the report takes a conservative approach to drawing conclusions from them.

• Overview of the Report's Chapters

The Surgeon General's report on youth violence reviews a vast, multidisciplinary, and often controversial research literature. Chapters 2 through 5 address, respectively, the extent and magnitude of youth violence; the developmental characteristics of, or paths to, youth violence; personal and environmental factors that may either place a child or adolescent at risk of violent behavior or protect a young person from succumbing to those risk factors; and violence intervention and prevention programs. The final chapter in the report identifies areas of opportunity for future efforts to combat and prevent youth violence.

This section provides a brief overview of each chapter, while the following section presents a summary of key conclusions drawn from each.

Chapter 2 examines the magnitude of and trends in youth violence over the last two decades. It describes two different, but complementary ways of measuring violence -- official reports and self-reports. Official arrest data offer an obvious means of determining the extent of youth violence. Indeed, a surge in arrests for violent crimes marked what is now recognized as an epidemic of youth violence from 1983 to 1993. Arrests were driven largely by the rapid proliferation of firearms use by adolescents engaging in violent acts and the likelihood that violent confrontations would -- as they did -- produce serious or lethal injuries. Today, with fewer young people carrying weapons, including guns, to school and elsewhere than in the early 1990s, violent encounters are less likely to result in homicide and serious injury and therefore are less likely to draw the attention of police. By 1999, arrest rates for homicide, rape, and robbery had all dropped below 1983 rates. In contrast, arrest rates for aggravated assault remained higher than they were in 1983, having declined only 24 percent from the peak rates in 1994.

Another way of measuring violence is on the basis of confidential reporting by youths themselves. Confidential surveys find that 10 to 15 percent of high school seniors report having committed an act of serious violence in recent years. These acts typically do not come to the attention of police, in part because they are less likely to involve firearms than in previous years. Over the past two decades, self-reported violence by high school seniors increased nearly 50 percent, a trend similar to that found in arrests for violent crimes. But this proportion has not declined in the years since 1993 -- it remains at peak levels. Chapter 2 considers how and to what extent arrest data and self-report data vary, including variations by sex and race or ethnicity. In the aggregate, the best available evidence from multiple sources indicates that youth violence is an ongoing national problem, albeit one that is largely hidden from public view.

Chapter 3 examines routes that may lead a young person into violence. Viewed from a developmental perspective, violence stems from a complex interaction of individuals with their environment at particular times in their lives. Longitudinal research has enabled investigators to describe the emergence of violence in terms of two, and possibly more, life-course trajectories. Chapter 3 discusses the early-onset and late-onset emergence of violence, which occur before and after puberty, respectively. These trajectories offer insights into the likely course, severity, and duration of violence over the life course and have practical implications for the timing of intervention programs and strategies. The chapter reviews research on the co-occurrence of serious violence and other problems, including drug use and mental disorders. Finally, it underscores the importance -- and the paucity -- of research on factors associated with the cessation of youth violence or its continuation into adulthood.

Extensive research in recent decades has sought to identify various personal characteristics and environmental conditions that either place children and adolescents at risk of violent behavior or that seem to protect them from the effects of risk. Risk and protective factors, which are the focus of Chapter 4 , can be found in every area of life. They exert different effects at different stages of development, they tend to appear in clusters, and they appear to gain strength in numbers. As the chapter notes, risk probabilities apply to groups, not to individuals. Although risk factors are not necessarily causes, a central aim of the public health approach to youth violence is to identify these predictors and determine when in the life course they typically come into play. Such information enables researchers to design preventive programs that can be put in place at just the right time to be most effective.

The chapter examines risk from the perspectives of both childhood and adolescence and, within each of these developmental periods, considers risk factors occurring in the individual, family, school, peer group, and community domains. Childhood risk factors for violence in adolescence include involvement in serious (but not necessarily violent) criminal acts and substance use before puberty, being male, aggressiveness, low family socioeconomic status/poverty, and antisocial parents -- all either individual or family risk factors. The influence of family is largely supplanted in adolescence by peer influences, thus risk factors with the largest predictive effects in adolescence include weak social ties, ties to antisocial or delinquent peers, and belonging to a gang. Having committed serious (but not necessarily violent) criminal offenses is also an important risk factor in adolescence.

Identifying and understanding how protective factors influence behavior is potentially as important to preventing and stopping violence as identifying and understanding risk factors. Several protective factors have been proposed, but to date only two have been found to buffer the risk of violence -- an intolerant attitude toward deviance and commitment to school. Protective factors warrant, and are beginning to receive, more research attention.

Despite past contentions that "nothing works" to prevent youth violence, the evidence presented in Chapter 5 demonstrates that prevention efforts can be effective against both early- and late-onset violence in the general youth population, high-risk youths, and even youths who are already violent or seriously delinquent. The chapter highlights 27 specific programs that, based on existing data, help prevent youth violence. The most effective of these programs combine components known to prevent violence by themselves, particularly social skills training for youths and interventions that include parents or entire families.

Chapter 5 also highlights important limitations in the current research on youth violence prevention. Little is known about the scientific effectiveness of hundreds of programs now being used in U.S. schools and communities. This situation is disconcerting, given that many well-intentioned youth violence prevention programs have been found ineffective or harmful to youths. Even less is known about how to implement effective programs on a national scale without compromising their results.

The information presented in Chapter 5 shows that youth violence prevention not only works, it can also be cost-effective. In a number of cases, the long-term financial benefits of prevention are substantially greater than the costs of the programs themselves. These promising findings indicate that prevention plays an important role in providing a safe environment for youths.

• Continue to build the science base
• Accelerate the decline in gun use by youths in violent encounters
• Facilitate the entry of youths into effective intervention programs rather than incarcerating them
• Disseminate model programs with incentives that will ensure fidelity to original program design when taken to scale
• Provide training and certification programs for intervention personnel
• Improve public awareness of effective interventions
• Convene youths and families, researchers, and private and public organizations for a periodic youth violence summit
• Improve Federal, state, and local strategies for reporting crime information and violent deaths
• Chapter Conclusions

The decade between 1983 and 1993 was marked by an epidemic of increasingly lethal violence that was associated with a large rise in the use of firearms and involved primarily African American males. There was a modest rise in the proportion of young persons involved in other forms of serious violence.

Since 1994, a decline in homicide arrests has reflected primarily the decline in use of firearms. There is some evidence that the smaller decline in nonfatal serious violence is also attributable to declining firearm use.

By 1999, arrest rates for violent crimes -- with the exception of aggravated assault -- had fallen below 1983 levels. Arrest rates for aggravated assault remain almost 70 percent higher than they were in 1983, and this is the offense most frequently captured in self-reports of violence.

Despite the present decline in gun use and in lethal violence, the self-reported proportion of young people involved in nonfatal violence has not declined from the peak years of the epidemic, nor has the proportion of students injured with a weapon at school declined.

The proportion of schools in which gangs are present continued to increase after 1994 and has only recently (1999) declined. However, evidence shows that the number of youths involved with gangs has not declined and remains near the peak levels of 1996.

Although arrest statistics cannot readily track firearm use in specific serious crimes other than homicide, firearm use in violent crimes declined among persons of all ages between 1993 and 1998.

The steep rise and fall in arrest rates for homicide over the past two decades have been matched by similar, but less dramatic changes in some of the other indicators of violence, including arrest rates for all violent crimes and incident rates from victims' self-reports. This pattern is not matched by arrests for selected offenses, such as aggravated assault, or incident rates and prevalence rates from offenders' self-reports.

Young men -- particularly those from minority groups -- are disproportionately arrested for violent crimes. But self-reports indicate that differences between minority and majority populations and between young men and young women may not be as large as arrest records indicate or conventional wisdom holds. Race/ethnicity, considered in isolation from other life circumstances, sheds little light on a given child's or adolescent's propensity for engaging in violence.

Schools nationwide are relatively safe. Compared to homes and neighborhoods, schools have fewer homicides and nonfatal injuries. Youths at greatest risk of being killed in school-associated violence are those from a racial or ethnic minority, senior high schools, and urban school districts.

There are two general onset trajectories for youth violence -- an early one, in which violence begins before puberty, and a late one, in which violence begins in adolescence. Youths who become violent before about age 13 generally commit more crimes, and more serious crimes, for a longer time. These young people exhibit a pattern of escalating violence through childhood, and they sometimes continue their violence into adulthood.

Most youth violence begins in adolescence and ends with the transition into adulthood.

Most highly aggressive children or children with behavioral disorders do not become serious violent offenders.

Surveys consistently find that about 30 to 40 percent of male youths and 15 to 30 percent of female youths report having committed a serious violent offense by age 17.

Serious violence is part of a lifestyle that includes drugs, guns, precocious sex, and other risky behaviors. Youths involved in serious violence often commit many other types of crimes and exhibit other problem behaviors, presenting a serious challenge to intervention efforts. Successful interventions must confront not only the violent behavior of these young people, but also their lifestyles, which are teeming with risk.

The differences in patterns of serious violence by age of onset and the relatively constant rates of individual offending have important implications for prevention and intervention programs. Early childhood programs that target at-risk children and families are critical for preventing the onset of a chronic violent career, but programs must also be developed to combat late-onset violence.

The importance of late-onset violence prevention is not widely recognized or well understood. Substantial numbers of serious violent offenders emerge without warning signs in their childhood. A comprehensive community prevention strategy must address both onset patterns and ferret out their causes and risk factors.

• Risk and protective factors exist in every area of life -- individual, family, school, peer group, and community. Individual characteristics interact in complex ways with people and conditions in the environment to produce violent behavior.
• Risk and protective factors vary in predictive power depending on when in the course of development they occur. As children move from infancy to early adulthood, some risk factors will become more important and others less important. Substance use, for example, is a much stronger risk factor at age 9 than it is at age 14.
• The strongest risk factors during childhood are involvement in serious, but not necessarily violent criminal behavior, substance use, being male, physical aggression, low family socioeconomic status or poverty and antisocial parents -- all individual or family characteristics or conditions.
• During adolescence, the influence of family is largely supplanted by peer influences. The strongest risk factors are weak ties to conventional peers, ties to antisocial or delinquent peers, belonging to a gang, and involvement in other criminal acts.
• Risk factors do not operate in isolation -- the more risk factors a child or young person is exposed to, the greater the likelihood that he or she will become violent. Risk factors can be buffered by protective factors, however. An adolescent with an intolerant attitude toward deviance, for example, is unlikely to seek or be sought out by delinquent peers, a strong risk factor for violence at that age.
• Given the strong evidence that risk factors predict the likelihood of future violence, they are useful for identifying vulnerable populations that may benefit from intervention efforts. Risk markers such as race or ethnicity are frequently confused with risk factors; risk markers have no causal relation to violence.
• No single risk factor or combination of factors can predict violence with unerring accuracy. Most young people exposed to a single risk factor will not become involved in violent behavior; similarly, many young people exposed to multiple risks will not become violent. By the same token, protective factors cannot guarantee that a child exposed to risk will not become violent.
• A number of youth violence intervention and prevention programs have demonstrated that they are effective; assertions that "nothing works" are false.
• Most highly effective programs combine components that address both individual risks and environmental conditions, particularly building individual skills and competencies, parent effectiveness training, improving the social climate of the school, and changes in type and level of involvement in peer groups.
• Rigorous evaluation of programs is critical. While hundreds of prevention programs are being used in schools and communities throughout the country, little is known about the effects of most of them.
• At the time this report was prepared, nearly half of the most thoroughly evaluated strategies for preventing violence had been shown to be ineffective -- and a few were known to harm participants.
• In schools, interventions that target change in the social context appear to be more effective, on average, than those that attempt to change individual attitudes, skills, and risk behaviors.
• Involvement with delinquent peers and gang membership are two of the most powerful predictors of violence, yet few effective interventions have been developed to address these problems.
• Program effectiveness depends as much on the quality of implementation as the type of intervention. Many programs are ineffective not because their strategy is misguided, but because the quality of implementation is poor.
• Preparation of the Report

To address the troubling presence of violence in the lives of U.S. youths, the Administration and Congress urged the Surgeon General to develop a report on youth violence, with particular focus on the scope of the problem, its causes, and how to prevent it. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher requested three agencies, all components of the Department of Health and Human Services, to share lead responsibility for preparing the report. The agencies are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Under Dr. Satcher's guidance, these agencies established a Planning Board comprising individuals with expertise in diverse disciplines and professions involved in the study, treatment, and prevention of youth violence. The Planning Board also enlisted individuals representing various Federal departments, including particularly the Department of Justice (juvenile crime aspects of youth violence), the Department of Education (school safety issues), and the Department of Labor (the association between youth violence and youth employment, and out-of-school youth). Invaluable assistance was obtained as well from individual citizens who have founded and operate nonprofit organizations designed to meet the needs of troubled and violent youths. Most important, young people themselves accepted invitations to become involved in the effort. All of these persons helped to plan the report and participated in its prepublication reviews.

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• Cite this Page Office of the Surgeon General (US); National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (US); National Institute of Mental Health (US); Center for Mental Health Services (US). Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville (MD): Office of the Surgeon General (US); 2001. Chapter 1 -- Introduction.

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By: Rachel San Giacomo

Addressing Youth Violence Throughout the City of Boston | Race and Community Dialogue Series

Northeastern’s Center on Crime, Race, and Justice hosted the second presentation of its Race and Community Dialogue Series. The topic of this installment, Addressing Youth Violence Throughout the City of Boston , hosted a panel of experts from different agencies who play a role in supporting young people in Boston.

Led by moderators Harry Harding, Vice President of Community Engagement for Children’s Services of Roxbury, and Sam Williams, Executive Director of Concord Prison Outreach and Co-Director of the CRJ Community Advisory Board, the panel consisted of:

Lanita Cullinane , Superintendent of Bureau of Field Services, Boston Police Department Isaac Yablo , Senior Advisor of Community Safety for the Mayor’s Office, City of Boston Cory McCarthy , Chief of Student Support for the Boston Public School District

The interdisciplinary panel, comprised of individuals and agencies who work in Boston’s communities, reflects the holistic solution needed to address youth violence.

Throughout the discussion panelists explored the multifaceted and interagency approach needed to combat youth violence. Research shows that youth living in environments with chronic stressors are more likely to make poor decisions that involve criminal activity. Reflecting on the environments that lead to youth violence, like poverty, housing, job disparities and more, panelists discussed complex, yet actionable solutions. The panel shared how environmental stressors are compounded by social media and youth mental health issues, leading to more violent confrontations in the city.

Solutions range from programmatic work, like establishing after school and summer programs, to building pathways to economic development for young people. Panelists also emphasized the importance of helping young people learn and build skills for dealing with conflict in healthy ways, and working to repair disconnects between parents and their children. While the solutions to youth violence are massively complex and intersectional, there are a number of actionable steps that are being taken by these organizations to address this growing issue in the city of Boston and beyond.

Watch the full presentation.

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The “Moscow Case”: What You Need to Know

Arrests, Criminal Prosecutions for Peaceful Protests

In mid-July 2019, peaceful protests began in Moscow, triggered by the exclusion of independent candidates from the September 8 city legislature elections. Authorities responded with brute force, in many cases violently confronting the peaceful protesters. In July-November, 24 people were arrested on charges of “mass rioting” and/or assaulting police. The mass rioting charges are groundless: video footage of the events leading up to these arrests show police breaking up peaceful marches and assemblies.

Despite the fact that most of the police assault charges ranged from excessive to groundless, some of the accused have already been sentenced to several years of prison. Even in those cases where protesters may have committed an infraction, the sentences in these instances have been excessive.

Jump to Selected Case Summaries Jump to Full List

Video footage reviewed by Human Rights Watch shows that many of the accused did not engage in any aggressive behavior. Some threw empty plastic bottles or attempted to stop police officers from beating peaceful protesters. One man pulled a police officer’s arm from a protester and another tried to touch an officer’s visor.

Two men’s behavior was more serious: in one case, a man threw a metal trash can at a police officer, and in another, a man sprayed a chemical substance in the direction of officers. But even in these cases, the evidence doesn’t support the charges and no officers were injured.

Sustained, public campaigns contributed to the nearly unprecedented releases of Pavel Ustinov and Alexei Minyailo. Famous theater personalities, A-list pop-stars, and other prominent figures, including those who never showed anything but loyalty toward the Kremlin, spoke up in defense  of Pavel Ustinov and called for his release. A group of Russian Orthodox priests were among the many people who campaigned on behalf of Minyailo. Following this, a court dropped the case against him and freed him. These developments inspired hope for the others jailed on politically motivated charges. However, in October law enforcement authorities arrested five more men as part of the Moscow case and charged them with police assault.

One activist, Konstantin Kotov, received a four-year prison sentence for “repeated” participation in unsanctioned public gatherings. Despite vigorous public campaigning on his behalf, he is still in jail pending appeal. Criminal prosecution for serial assembly violations was enabled by draconian legislation adopted in 2014 .

Six of the unregistered candidates received repeated administrative charges and temporary arrest sentences for violating regulations on mass gatherings, leaving them at risk of criminal prosecution, similarly to Kotov.

Courts issued warnings to two couples who brought their children to the protests, after the prosecutor’s office sought to have them stripped of their parental rights. Also, one man received five years’ imprisonment for a provocative tweet suggesting that law enforcement officers’ children could become the target of reprisals.

Criminally prosecuting people merely for exercising the right to peaceful assembly, including “repeated” participation in or organization of public gatherings, violates Russia’s international human rights law obligations to guarantee the right to freedom of assembly.

Criminal charges for interfering with police arrests and assaulting police officers are not improper, but the circumstances of many of the cases reviewed by Human Rights Watch—limited or no contact with police, negligible harm, and in some instances accounts by police that are exaggerated or possibly untruthful—strongly suggest the purpose of these charges was to discourage the legitimate exercise of the right to peaceful protest.

When criminal charges are appropriate, the sanctions sought and imposed should be proportionate to the offense. All the sentences imposed in the cases reviewed by Human Rights Watch appear excessive.

Selected Case Summaries

danil beglets .

Convicted of police assault over grabbing an officer’s arm (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Kirill Zhukov

Convicted of police assault over attempting to lift the visor of an officer’s helmet (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Pavel Ustinov

Convicted on charges of assaulting and inflicting medium damage to the health of a police officer (the officer claimed he dislocated his shoulder while detaining Ustinov) More »

Pavel Ustinov

Evgeny Kovalenko

Convicted of police assault on allegations of pushing an officer and throwing a trash can at a police officer (originally charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Evgeny Kovalenko

Evgeny Kovalenko (born 1971) is a railroad station security guard from Moscow region. On September 4, Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court found him guilty of assaulting a police officer (Article 318 part 1 of Russia’s Criminal Code : “use of violence against an official constituting no risk to either life or health”) and sentenced him to three years and five months in a medium-security corrections facility. The charges stemmed from allegations that on July 27, Kovalenko pushed a police officer and threw a metal trash bin at another. Both officers alleged that his actions caused them physical pain. In court, Kovalenko said that at around 6 p.m., on the corner of Rozhdestvenkaya Street and Theater Drive, he saw police officers using excessive force against peaceful protesters, including using batons to hit people already tackled to the ground. While not denying that he pushed one of the officers to prevent him from hitting a protester, Kovalenko did not admit to aiming at and hitting the other officer with the bin. Video footage available shows a man throwing a bin toward an officer. It also shows use of excessive force by police against protesters.

Ivan Podkopaev

Convicted of police assault over pepper spraying two police officers (originally also charged with participation in mass-rioting) More »

Ivan Podkopaev

Ivan Podkopaev (born 1993) lives in Moscow and works in a library as a technician. On September 3 the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow found Podkopaev guilty of assaulting a police officer (Article 318 part 1 of Russia’s Criminal Code : “use of violence against an official constituting no risk to either life or health”) and sentenced him to three years in a medium-security corrections facility. The charges stemmed from allegations that on July 27 at around 2:30 p.m., Podkopaev sprayed pepper spray towards Russian Guard officers on Tversakaya Street. Podkopaev said he did this after he saw police allegedly using a metal police barricade to “squash people, including women and the elderly.” Video footage released to the media by Russian investigative authorities shows police and Russian Guard officers with metal police barricades advancing on the crowd and a man with his face covered up spraying a chemical substance. Podkopaev did not deny the allegations and expressed contrition.

Update: On appeal, on October 9, 2019, the Moscow City Court reduced the sentence to two years.

Konstantin Kotov

Convicted on charges of repeated violations of regulations on public gatherings More »

Konstantin Kotov

Sentenced for repeated violations of regulations on public gatherings.

Of all the protest activists who were criminally charged in August, only 34-year-old Konstantin Kotov, a software engineer from Moscow, was accused not of specific actions at the protests but rather of "repeated violations of regulations on public gatherings" under Article 212.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. The charges against Kotov stemmed from the fact that during a six-month period, he took part in three protests in support of political and rights issues, called in a Facebook post in July for people to join a protest against the exclusion of opposition candidates from the Moscow legislature elections, and took part in an election-related protest in August. The investigation into Kotov's case was completed and the case was moved to trial in less than a week. Such swiftness is unprecedented compared to the regular timeframe of criminal investigations and trials in Russia. On September 5, the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow sentenced Kotov to four years in a medium-security corrections facility. Before Kotov’s sentencing, only one person in Russia had been convicted and served time serial involvement in unsanctioned protests. Prosecutions for such serial assembly violations was enabled by draconian legislation adopted in 2014 .

Update: On appeal, on October 14, 2019, the Moscow City Court upheld the sentence.

Update: Sentence reduced by Moscow City Court to 1 year and 5 months on second appeal on Apr 20th.

Yegor Zhukov

Convicted of extremist calls over criticizing the government in YouTube videos (originally accused of mass-rioting , changed on Sept 3rd) More »

Yegor Zhukov

Convicted of extremist calls over criticizing the government in youtube videos.

Yegor Zhukov, 21, studies political science at one of Russia’s leading universities, the Higher School of Economics. He is also a political vlogger , with more than 148,000 followers. Zhukov was arrested on August 2 on charges of mass rioting, which stemmed from allegations that during the July 27 unsanctioned protest he supposedly organized a large group of young people into ranks and led them to block police officers on the corner of Tverskaya Street and Kamergersky Lane. Moscow students organized a vigorous campaign for Zhukov’s release, which was also supported by some academics and high-profile journalists. When the authorities asked a court to put Zhukov in pre-trial custody, the investigation presented video footage from the site showing a young man whose face was not discernable organizing protesters. On August 30, Novaya Gazeta , a prominent Russian independent newspaper, published their video footage, in which the man’s face is clearly visible and bears no resemblance to Zhukov. On September 3, authorities dropped the mass-rioting charges against Zhukov, but charged him with making extremist calls online over several videos he recorded and published in his vlog in 2017. The investigation alleged that he “decided to engage an unlimited circle of people in his extremist activities, aimed at destabilizing the social-political situation in the Russian Federation.” Notably, the videos, which expressed Zhukov’s dissatisfaction with the current situation in Russia and its government, included no calls for violent actions. On the same day, a court released him from jail and transferred him to house arrest pending trial on the new charges. An active campaign in his support is ongoing. His trial began on December 3. The prosecutor asked for four years’ imprisonment. On Dec 6th, sentenced to three years’ suspended imprisonment with three years’ probation period and two years’ ban from administering websites.

Alexei Minyailo

Charged with participation in mass riots More »

Alexei Minyailo

Charged with mass rioting.

Alexey Minyailo (born 1985) is a developer of educational games for children in orphanages and a pro-democracy activist who volunteered at the headquarters of one of the unregistered candidates, Lyubov Sobol. Starting mid-July, Minyailo was involved in the election-related protest activity—both at street gatherings and on social media. On July 27, he spent the day at Khamovniki District Court in Moscow, where police had delivered Sobol in an apparent attempt to prevent her from taking part in the protest taking place that day. In the evening, Minyailo headed to Trubnaya Square, one of the venues for the unsanctioned protest, but detained him just as he was approaching the site. Minyailo spent two days in custody and was charged with participation in an unsanctioned gathering that interfered with traffic and the movement of pedestrians. On August 1, at around 4 a.m., law enforcement officers searched his house as part of an investigation into alleged mass rioting on July 27 and arrested him on charges of participation in mass rioting. On September 26, following a wave of public support—including support from 182 priests from the Russian Orthodox Church —a judge with the Basmanny District Court ordered his release because the evidence against him did not include any information about “organizing mass disorders accompanied by violence or destruction of property.”

Sergey Fomin

Charged with mass-rioting over “directing” protesters More »

Sergey Fomin

Sergey Fomin (born 1983) was a volunteer at the headquarters of one of the unregistered candidates, Lyubov Sobol. He took part in several unsanctioned protest gatherings—including one held on July 27—after opposition candidates were excluded from the ballot for city legislature elections. On July 31 at 4 a.m., police in Moscow searched the apartment where he lives with his parents. They then took him to the Investigative Committee, Russia’s chief criminal investigative agency, to interrogate as a witness into alleged mass rioting on July 27. Fomin refused to answer the investigator’s questions and was released pending further investigative activities. He left Moscow for a week. According to Fomin , when he returned to the city on August 8, he found out that as of August 5 he was wanted on charges of participation in mass rioting and that governmental-controlled media was portraying him as an organizer of mass riots. He turned himself in at the Zamoskvorechye District Police Department in Moscow on the same day. The next day, a court ruled to transfer him to a pre-trial detention facility. On September 3, another court ruled to transfer Fomin’s to house arrest. Charges dropped on Dec 6th.

The tables below provide detailed information on the status, charges, and any court rulings.

Persons Arrested on Charges of Mass-Rioting or Police Assault in Connection with the Moscow Protests

Activist convicted on charges of repeated violations of regulations on public gatherings, person convicted on charges of incitement of hatred, unregistered candidates who served consecutive and arbitrary administrative arrest sentences in retaliation for their protest activity, your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world..

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After uptick in youth violence, Prince George’s pilots ‘Safe Passage’ program

First came metal detectors and clear backpacks . Now, adult volunteers will monitor intersections as students travel from school to deter youth violence in Maryland’s second-largest school system.

The initiative, called “Safe Passage,” launched this week with a focus on six Prince George’s County schools and is staffed by recruits from church organizations, fraternities, sororities and more.

Organizers say posting watchful, caring adults along school routes should deter traffic accidents and discourage fighting, bullying and other misbehavior at a time when youth violence is on the rise.

“We want our students to go home the same way they came to school,” said Branndon Jackson, a school board member representing District 6 who helped arrange the initiative, which is modeled after a regional program.

Prince George’s County, a suburb of D.C., is one of many jurisdictions grappling with increasing youth violence. For three years, more adolescents than adults have been arrested on carjacking charges in the county. Last year, 92 juveniles were arrested — sometimes on school grounds — on suspicion of possessing a gun, according to county police department data.

While the number of juveniles arrested in homicides went down last year, some recent incidents involving teens have been deadly. In January, a Largo High School student was charged with murder in a shooting. Earlier that month, a 14-year-old boy was shot and critically injured during a robbery attempt near Northwestern High School in Hyattsville.

Jackson said the incidents compelled some county leaders to start brainstorming. They thought that bringing in trusted adults from the community could help fill a gap and prevent harm. They reviewed traffic patterns, recent events and other factors to determine which schools should be a part of the pilot.

The group, lead by Jackson, District Heights Commissioner Anthony Tilghman and three county council members — Jolene Ivey (D-District 5), Wala Blegay (D-District 6) and Krystal Oriadha (D-District 7) — picked six schools for the pilot: Suitland High School, Andrew Jackson Academy in Forestville, Central High School in Capitol Heights, Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, Bladensburg High School and Largo High School.

D.C. officials launched a similar program in 2017 in response to student concerns about safety. Community organizations receive grants through the program, called Safe Passage Safe Blocks, and then place adults from the neighborhood along specific routes. D.C. officials promote the program as one of its best anti-violence initiatives and alternatives to policing, but it has drawn skepticism from parents in recent years over its effectiveness. Last year, a Safe Passage worker was fatally shot near Coolidge High School in Northwest Washington.

Adult volunteers in the Prince George’s County pilot program will begin their shifts this week. The goal is to have at least two volunteers near a designated intersection while students travel from school between 2 and 4 p.m. Volunteers are not paid, but they are provided with T-shirts, a vest and snacks. They are asked to talk with students but cannot touch any student, Jackson said. If an incident becomes unsafe, they are instructed to call the police.

Over the course of the pilot, organizers plan to aggregate data from the police department and school system that they hope shows the program makes a difference, Jackson said.

“The goal is to make a convincing case that this project should be fully funded — by the county or the state — to help our students get home safe,” he said.

About 125 volunteers have signed up. Jackson said the program needs about 175 more.

During a three-hour training Saturday at Largo High School, Derreck Cobbs — a volunteer from Bowie — said he was recruited by Jackson to join. Cobbs, 41, said he doesn’t have any children in the school system but does have a responsibility to serve his community. He emphasized that his job is “not to be police enforcement” but said the program could act as “a great deterrent.”

“The more eyes you have, the less likely someone is to do something that may not be good-natured,” he said.

Jasmine Hilton contributed to this report .

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After uptick in youth violence, Prince George’s pilots ‘Safe Passage’ program

“We want our students to go home the same way they came to school,” said Branndon Jackson, a school board member representing District 6 who helped arrange the initiative, which is modeled after a regional program. Prince George’s County, a suburb of D.C., is one of many jurisdictions grappling with increasing youth violence. For three years, more adolescents than adults have been arrested on carjacking charges in the county. Last year, 92 juveniles were arrested — sometimes on school grounds — on suspicion of possessing a gun, according to county...

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City response to recent youth violence, 'Operation Safe Summer' to begin early in Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. -- Law enforcement, city leaders and Richmond Public Schools are responding to a recent wave of violence, claiming the lives of eight people over the last few weeks.

According to Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards, since March 31, of the eight people shot and killed , four of them were juveniles.

James Minor, who lives in Church Hill and is also affiliated with the Richmond NAACP, said he witnessed the most recent one Sunday , where a 16-year-old was killed and four other people were shot.

"We heard over 40 gunshots yesterday, and immediately I knew that somebody was gone," Minor said. "I rushed down there, I saw the young man, and the other folks shot. It was unbelievable. I saw that young man take his last breath," Minor said.

According to Richmond Police, most of the recent shootings have stemmed from simple arguments, where those involved are carrying weapons.

"In some cases, adults have tried to intervene. In other cases, adults have exacerbated the situation," said Police Chief Rick Edwards.

In response, Edwards said "Operation Safe Summer" would launch this week, rather than in June as it did in 2023.

The operation focuses on increasing police patrols in 21 different "hot-spots" across the city to reduce gun violence and get illegal guns off Richmond's streets.

Some of those hot-spots include Richmond's South Side, North Side, and East End.

"The vast majority of people who live in these hot-spots aren't creating the problems. It's a tiny segment of the population causing almost all of our gun violence," Edwards said.

Around a dozen Virginia State Police troopers will assist with patrols in these areas. There will also be increased security around East End schools during pick-up and drop off.

Police will also crack down on Richmond's 11 p.m. curfew for kids.

According to Chief Edwards, last year, Operation Safe Summer contributed to a 30% reduction in gun violence in 2023. Edwards said law enforcement obtained 176 illegal firearms, as well as 10 glock-switches.

"To the young people who choose to pick up the gun and pull the trigger, we will find you. You will be held accountable," said Mayor Levar Stoney during Monday's press conference.

Stoney urged parents to play an active role in preventing gun violence among Richmond's youth.

Superintendent Jason Kamras shared a long list of all the schools impacted by recent gun violence.

They include Martin Luther King Jr. Middle, Chimborazo Elementary, Armstrong High, Bellevue Elementary, Richmond Alternative School, and Thomas Jefferson High School.

The waves of violence have happened time and time again during the Superintendent's tenure.

"Since 2019, 169 juveniles in the city of Richmond have been shot. Nearly all of those are RPS students," Kamras said. "This has to stop."

RPD said the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney for the city is fully on-board with Operation Safe Summer starting almost two months early.

Edwards said the Commonwealth's Attorney may elevate some of the cases to the federal level.

The official start of Operation Safe Summer will be Friday, April 19.

Minor said he was pleased with the press conference's overall message urging parents to get involved.

"Personally, I'm tired of it. I hear gunshots every other day. And it's time for that stuff to cease. We're tired of it," Minor said.

Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can  email [email protected] to send a tip .

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Russia’s Police Tolerate Domestic Violence. Where Can Its Victims Turn?

By Andrew Higgins

• July 11, 2019

MOSCOW — He beat her. He kidnapped her. He threatened to kill her.

But this was Russia, where domestic violence is both endemic and widely ignored. Every time Valeriya Volodina went to the police for protection from her ex-boyfriend, she got nowhere. “Not once did they open a criminal case against him — they would not even acknowledge there was a case,” she says.

So Ms. Volodina turned her sights out of the country, and this week, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled emphatically in her favor. Rejecting arguments from Russia that she had suffered no real harm, and that she had failed to file her complaints properly, the court awarded her 20,000 euros, about $22,500.

The ruling was the European court’s first on a domestic violence case from Russia — but it may be far from its last. Ten more Russian women have similar cases pending before the court.

Ms. Volodina’s lawyer, Vanessa Kogan, the director of Astreya , a Russian human rights organization, hailed the ruling in Strasbourg “as a crucial step toward tackling the scourge of domestic violence in Russia.”

Particularly important, she said, is that the European court recognized that “Russia’s failure to deal with this question is systemic and that Russia authorities, by remaining passive, by not providing protection and by not having necessary legislation, are violating victims’ equal rights before the law.”

The ruling Tuesday cast a harsh light on the Russian judicial and law enforcement systems, and their longstanding blind spot when it comes to domestic violence. A report last year by Human Rights Watch described the problem as “pervasive” in Russia but rarely addressed because of legal hurdles, social stigma and a general unwillingness by law enforcement officers to take it seriously.

It came amid growing protests in Moscow in recent weeks over the issue, following a decision last month by Russian prosecutors to bring charges of premeditated murder against three sisters who killed their father after what they said were years of beatings and sexual abuse.

The sisters, now ages 18, 19 and 20, attacked their father, Mikhail Khachaturyan, with a knife and hammer last year as he dozed in his rocking chair after dousing them with pepper spray as punishment for their not being tidy enough. Supporters of the sisters — Maria, Angelina and Krestina Khachaturyan — say they were driven to violence by years of abuse and should not be prosecuted for murder.

A petition demanding that the case be closed has been signed by more than 260,000 people. Various celebrities, including a YouTube interviewer hugely popular among Russian youth, Yury Dud, have spoken up in their defense. Moscow City Hall refused a request from the sisters’ supporters for permission to stage a protest march over the weekend, leaving activists to stage one-person pickets, which are the only form of protest allowed without a permit.

There are no official statistics for domestic violence in Russia, but a 2014-15 survey by the Russian Academy of Sciences, conducted in the northwest of the country, found that over half of those surveyed had experienced domestic violence or knew someone who had.

But the authorities often refuse to act, or act far too late to help. On Thursday, the Russian news agency Tass reported that a sexual assault case had been opened against Mr. Khachaturyan, the dead father of the three abused sisters now facing murder charges. Russian law allows the prosecution of corpses.

In Ms. Volodina’s case, it was her boyfriend who finally shed light on why her complaints were being ignored by the police. “With all the money I have spent on the cops, I could have bought a new car,” she remembers him complaining.

In her case, the European court did act, determining that the Russian authorities had violated her rights under the European Convention of Human Rights, which Russia has signed. It said they had failed to investigate her reports of violence or to provide any protection from her former partner, Rashad Salayev, 31.

“Justice has been achieved,” said Ms. Volodina, 34, “but it is sad that this was done in a foreign country, not in Russia.”

Alyona Popova, a prominent women’s rights activist, said in a statement on Facebook that Russia had brought shame on itself by failing to confront the problem. “Russian laws and law enforcement agencies do not protect their citizens from violence, therefore this function is performed by the European Court of Human Rights,” she said.

In Russia, a debate over domestic violence has highlighted a deep divide, both generational and cultural, that has opened up under President Vladimir V. Putin, who has formed a close alliance with the Orthodox Church. While not particularly conservative in his own personal views, Mr. Putin — who is divorced and says he has gay friends — has given free rein to more reactionary members of the clergy.

After a group of Russian legislators tried in 2012 to enact a law against domestic violence, the church’s Commission on the Family objected even to the use of the term “violence in the family,” describing it as a product of “the ideas of radical feminism” aimed at victimizing men.

On one side of a gulf of opinion are Russians, many of them young, who share a view that the state must take action against domestic abuse, sexual violence, and harassment and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. On the other side, probably a large majority, are more conservative Russians who bridle at what they see as ideas imported from the West and the erosion of traditional norms.

Unable to secure satisfaction from their own justice system, an increasing number of Russian women have sought redress from the European court.

In one case filed there in May, one woman, Margarita Gracheva, accused a Moscow region police officer of misconduct for failing to act after her estranged husband put a knife to her throat and threatened to dissolve her body in acid. “A manifestation of love,” the officer declared.

A few days later, in December 2017, Ms. Gracheva’s husband chopped off her hands with an ax. He was sentenced to 14 years — but she was rebuffed in her efforts to get police officers punished in her own country for negligence.

Ms. Volodina, the plaintiff in the case that was decided this week, said her reports of violence and threats had been dismissed whenever she went to the police as “domestic troubles” or a lovers’ tiff.

The officers, she said, also sneered at her choice of partner — Mr. Salayev is from Azerbaijan — and suggested she should have known what to expect. (Men from Azerbaijan and other former Soviet lands in the Caucasus region are often stereotyped in Russia as being overly emotional and prone to violence.)

“They told me it was my fault for ever getting involved with this guy and said, ‘When he kills you, come and see us,’” Ms. Volodina recalled.

She said that she had been forced to “live like a secret agent” for three years, afraid he might find her and kill her. She changed her name, left her home city for Moscow, frequently changed her mobile phone SIM card and fled for a time to France.

According to the ruling, from January 2016 to September 2016, Ms. Volodina filed at least seven different complaints to the police. All were dismissed. She made further complaints in 2018 after he posted “intimate photographs” of her on social media, started stalking her and making death threats.

In 2016, according to the European court’s account of events, he found her and punched her in the face and stomach. After being taken to hospital and told that she was nine weeks pregnant and at risk of a miscarriage, she agreed to a medically induced abortion.

Ms. Volodina’s lawyer, Ms. Kogan, said that corruption certainly complicated efforts to get legal redress, but that bigger obstacles were attitudes toward domestic violence and the absence of a law specifically aimed at tackling the problem.

Prosecuting a violent spouse became even more difficult in February 2017, when the Russian Parliament, after lobbying from the Orthodox Church, decriminalized first battery offenses among family members.

“In Russia, you get one free beating a year,” Ms. Kogan said.

Oleg Matsnev contributed reporting.

A year of suffering for Sudanese women and girls

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[ Also available in Arabic ]

Sudan’s current conflict, which marks its one-year point this week, is having a devastating impact on the people of Sudan, particularly women and girls. The conflict has reversed the gains made towards democracy and stability, leaving the country in suffering and insecurity, while facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. UN Women calls on the international community to ensure that the conflict in Sudan does not become a neglected crisis.

Sudanese women and girls are paying a heavy price for this violence, bearing the brunt of a humanitarian crisis that remains largely invisible to the world. Sudan is among the largest internal displacement crises in the world. 53 per cent of those internally displaced are women and girls, and there is a growing risk that the violence will soon create the world’s largest hunger crisis. More than 7,000 new mothers could die in the coming months if their nutritional and health needs remain unmet.

More than 6.7 million people are at risk of gender-based violence, and reports of intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and trafficking in persons are widespread and increasing. Survivors report rarely being able to access services or report to authorities. The economic impact of the conflict has further marginalized women, stripping them of livelihood opportunities and pushing many towards extreme measures and the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse as they seek to support their families.

Women and girls, often the first responders in crises, are not only victims of this violence but also pivotal to the survival and resilience of their communities. UN Women salutes the courage and bravery of Sudanese women and women’s rights organizations, who continue to advocate for peace and a return to democratic governance at different forums. Their participation in peace processes and humanitarian responses is not just beneficial but necessary for creating lasting peace and security.

Immediate steps must be taken to ensure the protection of women and girls, support their economic empowerment, and include them in peace negotiations and decision-making. We urge international partners and donors to invest in local, women-led organizations and prioritize resources to address the gender dimensions of this crisis.

UN Women stands with the people of Sudan during this difficult time and reiterates the Secretary-General's call for an immediate halt to the fighting and a return to dialogue. Respect for human rights and international law must prevail, with perpetrators of human rights violations held accountable. Only then can we hope to restore democracy and build a peaceful and secure future for all in Sudan.

• Sexual violence in conflict
• Conflict, war
• Peace and security

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Israeli teenager's body found as violence erupts in the occupied West Bank

Al-MUGHAYYIR, West Bank — Israel’s army said Saturday the body of a missing Israeli teen was found in the  West Bank  after he was killed in a “terrorist attack,” as violence escalated across the Israeli-occupied territory where  tensions have simmered  for months.

The disappearance of 14-year-old Binyamin Achimair sparked attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages on Friday and Saturday. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a statement on social media urged people not to take the law into their own hands.

On Friday, Palestinian Jehad Abu Alia was killed and 25 others were wounded in the attack on al-Mughayyir village, Palestinian health officials said. On Saturday, Israeli troops delayed for several hours the ambulance carrying the 26-year-old man’s body for burial, witnesses said.

Dozens of Israeli settlers returned to the village’s outskirts on Saturday, burning 12 homes and several cars. The Palestinian Health Ministry said three people from the village were injured, one critically. Border police fired tear gas toward villagers who gathered, trying to disperse them.

In the nearby village of Douma, Israeli settlers set fire to around 15 homes and 10 farms, the head of the local village council, Slieman Dawabsheh, told The Associated Press, saying he had been there. “The army came but unfortunately, the army were protecting the settlers,” he said, asserting that it fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians trying to confront and expel them.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment. The Palestinian Red Crescent said six people were injured by gunfire but did not say who fired.

Tensions in the West Bank have been especially high since the outbreak of the  Israel-Hamas war  in nearby Gaza on Oct. 7, sparked by the Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. More than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza health officials.

Hamas since then has been trying to ignite other fronts, including in the West Bank, in hopes of exerting more pressure on Israel. Such efforts have largely failed, though more than 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Oct. 7, most in clashes sparked by army raids but some by vigilante settlers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing of the Israeli teen.

According to Israeli media, the teen was last seen leaving the settler outpost of Malachei Shalom early Friday to tend to livestock nearby. The sheep returned to the outpost hours later without him, reports said.

Israel’s Channel 13 TV reported that Achimair’s body was discovered by a drone. The broadcaster said he was not shot but did not elaborate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the killing “We will get to the murderers and their helpers as we do to anyone who harms the citizens of the state of Israel,” he said in a statement issued by his office.

In 2014, the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank escalated tensions and eventually ignited a 50-day Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, at the time the deadliest round of fighting between the two sides.

Consecutive Israeli governments have  expanded Israeli settlement construction  in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories the Palestinians seek for a future state, along with Gaza. Some are highly developed and resemble suburbs of Israeli cities, while smaller outposts often have only a few caravans.

While Israel has established scores of settlements across the occupied West Bank, the outposts are not authorized, though the government  gives them tacit support . The international community overwhelmingly considers all West Bank settlements illegal and  obstacles to peace .

Over 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories captured by Israel in 1967.

The Associated Press