Youth violence dominates headlines and politicians’ attention and many organisations invest considerable resources in an attempt to reduce it. This book examines how inequality and social harms drive such violence and highlights key future goals for policymakers, researchers and practitioners.

How do economic conditions such as poverty, unemployment, inflation, and economic growth impact youth violence? Economics and Youth Violence provides a much-needed new perspective on this crucial issue. Pinpointing the economic factors that are most important, the editors and contributors in this volume explore how different kinds of economic issues impact children, adolescents, and their families, schools, and communities.Offering new and important insights regarding the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and youth violence across a variety of times and places, chapters cover such issues as the effect of inflation on youth violence; new quantitative analysis of the connection between race, economic opportunity, and violence; and the cyclical nature of criminal backgrounds and economic disadvantage among families. Highlighting the complexities in the relationship between economic conditions, juvenile offenses, and the community and situational contexts in which their connections are forged, Economics and Youth Violence prompts important questions that will guide future research on the causes and prevention of youth violence. Contributors: Sarah Beth Barnett, Eric P. Baumer, Philippe Bourgois, Shawn Bushway, Philip J. Cook, Robert D. Crutchfield, Linda L. Dahlberg, Mark Edberg, Jeffrey Fagan, Xiangming Fang, Curtis S. Florence, Ekaterina Gorislavsky, Nancy G. Guerra, Karen Heimer, Janet L. Lauritsen, Jennifer L. Matjasko, James A. Mercy, Matthew Phillips, Richard Rosenfeld, Tim Wadsworth, Valerie West, Kevin T. Wolff Richard Rosenfeld is Curators Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Mark Edberg is Associate Professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Xiangming Fang is Professor of Economics and Director of the International Center for Applied Economics and Policy in the College of Economics and Management at China Agricultural University. Curtis S. Florence is the lead health economist for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).

Youth violence: Sources and solutions in South Africa thoroughly and carefully reviews the evidence for risk and protective factors that influence the likelihood of young people acting aggressively. Layers of understanding are built by viewing the problem from a multitude of perspectives, including the current situation in which South African youth are growing up, perspectives from developmental psychology, the influences of race, class and gender, and of the media. The book then reviews the evidence for effective interventions in the contexts of young people’s lives – their homes, their schools, their leisure activities, with gangs, in the criminal justice system, in cities and neighbourhoods, and with sexual offenders. In doing so, thoughtful suggestions are made for keeping an evidence-based perspective while (necessarily) adapting interventions for developing world contexts, such as South Africa. Youth violence in South Africa: Sources and solutions is a valuable addition to the library of anyone who has ever wondered about youth violence, or wanted to do something about it.

This book places youth violence within a Routine Activity Ecological Framework. Youth violence, specifically youth exposure to community violence and youth perpetration of violent behaviors, occur within various contexts. Ahlin and Antunes situate their discussion of youth violence within an ecological framework, identifying how it is nested within four mesosystem layers: community, family, peers and schools, and youth characteristics. Contextualized using an ecological framework, the Routine Activity Theory and Lifestyles perspective (RAT/LS) are well suited to guide an examination of youth violence risk and protective factors across the four layers. Drawing on scholarship that explores predictors and consequences of youth violence, the authors apply RAT/LS theory to explain how community, family, peers, schools, and youth characteristics influence youth behavior. Each layer of the ecological framework unfolds to reveal the latest scholarship and contextualizes how concepts of RAT/LS, specifically the motivated offender, target suitability, and guardianship, can be applied at each level. This book also highlights the mechanisms and processes that contribute to youth exposure to and involvement in violence by exploring factors examined in the literature as protective and risk factors of youth violence. Youth violence occurs in context, and, as such, the understanding of multilevel predictors and preventive measures against it can be situated within an RAT/LS ecological framework. This work links theory to extant research. Ahlin and Antunes demonstrate how knowledge of youth violence can be used to develop a robust theoretical foundation that can inform policy to improve neighborhoods and youth experiences within their communities, families, and peers and within their schools while acknowledging the importance of individual characteristics. This monograph is essential reading for those interested in youth violence, juvenile delinquency, and juvenile justice research and anyone dedicated to preventing crime among youths.

This hearing focused on youth violence and the importance of developing local and state solutions. Senator Fred Thompson made an introductory statement. This was followed by four panels on each of 2 days of testimony. Day one's first panel included involved students and business people from Memphis, TN. The second panel included two Tennessee mayors, the president of the Memphis Board of Education, and the Honorable Kenneth Turner, Juvenile Court Judge, Memphis, TN. The third panel included James Ball, Facility Administrator, Shelby County Training Center, Memphis, TN; Veronica Coleman, U.S. Attorney, Memphis, TN; John W. Pierotti, District Attorney General, Memphis, TN; and Robert Wood, Consultant, Agency for Youth and Family Development, Memphis, TN. The fourth panel included community health workers, advocates, religious representatives from Memphis, TN. Day two's first panel included the Honorable Don Sunquist, Governor, State of Tennessee; George Hattaway, Commissioner of Youth Development, Nashville, TN; and Rita Wadley, Commissioner of Public Health, Nashville, TN. The second panel included the Honorable Beth Halteman Harwell, State Representative, State and Local Government Committee; the Honorable Douglas Henry, State Senator, Special Select Committee on Children and Youth, and Chairman, Finance Ways and Means Committee; and the Honorable Page Walley, State Representative, Special Select Committee on Children and Youth. The third panel included administrators from various community organizations that focused on adolescent needs. The fourth panel included the Honorable Paul R. Wohlford, Judge, Juvenile Court, Bristol, TN; the Honorable Randy Camp, Judge, Crockett County, TN; the Honorable Dan Speer, Mayor, Pulaski, TN; the Honorable Bernie Swiney, Mayor, London, TN; and the Honorable C. Van Deacon, Judge, Juvenile Court, Cleveland, TN. An appendix presents additional submissions for the record. (SM)

Whereas crime more generally has fallen over the last 20 years, levels of serious youth violence remain high. This book presents innovative research into the complex relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious youth violence. While the implementation of trauma-informed approaches to working with adolescents in the justice system is becoming common practice, there remains a dearth of research into the efficacy of such approaches. Foregrounding young people’s voices, this book explores the theoretical underpinnings of trauma and the manifestations of childhood adversity. The authors conclude by advocating for a more psychosocial approach to trauma-informed policy and practice within the youth justice system.