Youth Violence

The rash of school shootings in the late 1990s has generated a tremendous amount of public concern about youth aggression and violence. But students, trainees, and professionals who work with children and adolescents have had no concise or systematic survey of our current knowledge about causes and effective approaches to intervention and prevention on which to draw. Youth Aggression and Violence has filled the void. Comprehensive and readable, it: * utilizes theory and research from the developmental psychology of "normal" children and adolescents, as well as material on "abnormal" forms of development, such as disruptive behavior disorders and juvenile delinquency; * situates youthful aggression and violence within the overall framework of children's moral development; * integrates quantitative research with carefully considered qualitative research and case studies; * discusses the genetic and biological underpinnings of youthful aggression, as well as family and social factors related to antisocial behavior; * emphasizes cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes involved in youth aggression and violence; * provides in-depth coverage of juvenile killers and school violence; * examines female aggression and violence in a variety of contexts; and * critically examines a number of questions frequently discussed in conjunction with youth violence, such as media violence, firearm accessibility, and the relationship between self-esteem and aggression.

Leading scholars summarize the current research on risk, protection, and resilience in the context of youth violence and its implications for practice with children and families. It describes an emerging framework for understanding social and health problems and for developing more effective programs for interventions. This book describes resilient children by examining risk factors for violence and explores the factors that lead some children to resist or adapt to risk.

This book explores the roots of goodness and evil by gathering together the knowledge gained in a lifelong study of harmful or altruistic behavior. Ervin Staub has studied what leads children and adults to help others in need and how caring, helping, and altruism develop in children; bullying and youth violence and their prevention; the roots of genocide, mass killing, and other harmful behavior between groups of people; the prevention of violence; healing victimized groups and reconciliation between groups. He presents a broad panorama of the roots of violence and caring and how we create societies and a world that is caring, peaceful, and harmonious.

This is the definitive examination of adolescent violence in the United States as both a social phenomenon and a policy problem. Franklin Zimring, one of America's most esteemed scholars of law and crime, scrutinizes criminal statistics and demographic trends in order to authoritatively address public worries. The result is a thorough debunking of Congressional predictions of "a coming storm of juvenile violence" and the half-baked policy proposals that accompany such warnings. The book sets forth comprehensive and dispassionate analyses of three key areas of youth violence policy: adolescent firearms possession and use, standards for transfer from juvenile to criminal court jurisdiction, and legal sanctions for adolescents who kill. Throughout American Youth Violence, the core issues of youth violence in the 1990s are examined with an unprecedented degree of analytic rigour. Zimring also offers an appropriate set of responses to youth violence that are consistent with a positive future for the juvenile court and for American youth.

A Prescription for Stopping Youth Violence Before It Starts'A clear, compelling, and much-needed examination of what causes youth violence in small towns and big cities all over America, and how one community was able to bring many partners and pieces of a complex puzzle together to curb youth violence in its neighborhoods. This book is an important reminder that youth violence is preventable. It should be read by every elected official, public health professional, community leader, advocate, and parent ready to move beyond despair or fear and take action.'-Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund'Essential reading for public officials, concerned parents, and citizens.'-Senator Edward M. Kennedy'An eye-opening and well-documented book by two of the foremost pioneers in violence prevention efforts in America. Through their own personal stories and an astute analysis of the complexities of violence prevention initiatives, the authors argue that violence is learned behavior that can be significantly reduced. This is an inspiring book; I highly recommend it.'-Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D., professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Judge Baker Children's Center, Boston, Massachusetts