YOUTH VIOLENCE

Youth Violence

Table of Contents

I. Introduction3

II. What Is Youth Violence4

LGBT And Queer Youth Groups8

The Community at Large9

The College Scene9

Secondary Schools11

Groups for At-risk Youth12

The Internet13

III. Factors That Cause Youths To Join Gangs13

IV. Types Of Crimes Committed By Youth16

V. Impacts Of Youth Violence On The Community18

VI. Impacts Of Youth Violence On Families20

VII. Justice For The Youth21

VIII. Preventive Steps To Help Deter Youth Violence21

Social Motivations for the Viewing of Mediated Violence23

Safety against Youth Violence25

IX. Conclusion33

References34

Youth Violence

I. Introduction

Although the United States has not historically been more violent than any other country, violence does play a particular role in the nation's conception of itself. Around the world, people regard the United States as a paradise of material luxuries marred by high crime rates and violent impulses deeply rooted in its psyche. Small wonder the “world's policeman” embarks on such ruthless and violent campaigns against people in other countries, at least in the eyes of non-Americans regarding the United States from afar. Within the United States people can be equally pessimistic about the violent underpinnings of the American character.

Critics see an upsurge in violence resulting from the proliferation of guns and an unwillingness to address economic insecurities plaguing the American workforce. Both sides found ample evidence for these conclusions in the shooting deaths of twelve students at the hands of two classmates at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999. However, both sides are wrong when they claim that the United States is more violent now than ever before or that the United States is more violent than any other country. The perception of violence is inevitably detached from its historical reality. (Wilson, 2003)

Few can say with complete confidence what violence means beyond the most general notion of harm inflicted on others. Even then, there are complications when one considers medical procedures that cause harm in the name of a longer-term benefit. For much of history, violence was a fact of life, the inevitable result of conflicts that arose as individuals or groups competed for limited resources. Only rarely have leaders of political struggles adopted models of passive resistance that seek to end violence through nonviolent measures. Typically, an end to violence is sought by responding in kind with more violence. The ideological apparatus thus communicates that violence is not intrinsically bad. The underlying motives for violence determine the moral evaluation of it. One critic's freedom fighter is another critic's terrorist. (Wilson, 2006)

The rhetoric about violence becomes even more intense and contradictory when the discussion turns to children. On the one hand, children are sometimes a source of violence as they prowl the streets in youth gangs and construct pipe bombs in their basements. On the other hand, children are the innocent victims of violence, suffering abuse at the hands of their parents and playmates and watching violent television shows and films and playing computer games that contain violent acts. More recently the issues of sexuality and gender have evolved and grown to dominate many discussions of violence, as date rape and the sexual abuse ...