Parenting Resources - Teen Violence: Abuse

The Youth Violence Epidemic

How soon do we need answers?

Now is the time to take action. Some people mistakenly believe that violence in the United States is on the downswing because crime overall has decreased since its peak year in 1981. But much of the decrease in crime has been due to the aging of the baby boom generation and the consequent reduction in the number of teenagers; it is this demographic group that contributes disproportionately to crime in general.

In addition, violent crime is up, especially among juveniles, and this trend is likely to continue. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that between 1985 and 1994, there was a 40 percent increase in murders, rapes, robberies, and assaults reported to law enforcement agencies across the nation. And despite their relatively low numbers in the population, our youth were responsible for 26 percent of this growth in violence.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that between 1985 and 1994, there was a 40 percent increase in murders, rapes, robberies, and assaults reported to law enforcement agencies across the nation. And despite their relatively low numbers in the population, our youth were responsible for 26 percent of this growth in violence.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

the years between 1985 and 1995 saw a 249 percent increase in gun-related
murders committed by juveniles. (By the year 1992, when murder became
the second leading cause of death among males 15-24 in the United States,
three-quarters of the killings already involved guns.) Indeed, for black and white
older adolescents, firearm murders are the most rapidly increasing cause of death.

In 1994 alone, for example, juveniles were responsible for 14 percent of all violent crimes solved by the law enforcement system. They committed:

20 percent of robberies
14 percent of rapes
13 percent of assaults
10 percent of murders

Thus, even if arrest rates recorded in 1992 remain constant, we could still see a 22 percent increase in violence arrests for youth age 10-17 until the year 2010. This rise equals the projected growth in the juvenile population as the baby-boomers’ children start approaching and growing into their teen years.

Worse, the National Center for Juvenile Justice reports that the number of youth age 10-17 who are arrested for violent crimes could more than double by the year 2010 if arrest rates continue to increase as they did between 1983 and 1992.

This projected growth between 1992 and 2010 is expected to vary among categories, as follows:

Murders + 142 percent
Rapes + 66 percent
Robberies + 58 percent
Assault + 129 percent

In addition, patterns of behavior established in childhood and early adolescence not only wreak their own havoc, but are the foundation for lifelong patterns manifested in adulthood.

Who is most likely to be a victim of violence?

Statistics on victims of violent crime show that juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 are more likely to encounter violence than any other age group except young adults age 18-24. (Senior citizens, by contrast, are the least likely group to be victims of violent crime.)

Youth victimization is not only threatening to the victim but also to U.S. society for another reason:The experience of being victimized by crime has been found to increase certain people’s inclination for perpetrating violence, juvenile crime, adult criminality, and adult violence toward family members.Reducing victimization of youth can therefore also reduce youth violence.

Black youth, along with recent Asian immigrants and gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth also run a greater risk for being victims of violence stemming from 'hate crimes.'

Rates of victimization for young Hispanics are slightly lower than those for black and higher than those for white youth.

"In some areas of the country, it is now more likely for a black male between 15 and 25 to die from homicide than it was for a United States soldier to be killed on a tour of duty in Vietnam. "New York Times, December 7, 1990.

Regardless of race or cultural group,, violence is most prevalent among the poor. Thus, although violence in nonurban areas is increasing, children in poor, unstable neighborhoods are more likely to be assaulted than their counterparts in affluent or stable suburbs.

The ultimate violence is murder. Homicide has been the leading cause of death among African Americans age 15-34 since 1978. The lifetime risk of violent death for young black males is 1 in 27 and for black females, 1 in 17. By contrast, 1 in 205 young white males and 1 in 496 white females are murdered.

How pervasive is gang violence?

Only a small percentage of youth join delinquent gangs, and relatively few gang members engage in violence. Nonetheless, in 3 out of 4 cases of murder and assault committed by youth, the perpetrators are likely to be gang members.

In the 70s and 80s, gang violence increased substantially in both level and type of violence in the United States. Gangs now operate in all 50 states and in suburbia as well as the inner city. A survey of 35 cities in 1989 reported a total of 1,439 gangs; the estimate today has leapt to about 2,000 gangs, with as many as 200,000 members.

Until the 1970s, most gang members were 12-21 years old; today they can be anywhere as young as 9 or as old as 30. The younger and older gang members reflect the increase of gang involvement in drugs.

Male gang members outnumber females 15 to 1, but the gender gap is slowly narrowing.

Today's gang violence is deadlier than in the 1950s, when 'turf tiffs' were usually settled with switchblades or chains. Today, weapons of choice are AK-47s or Uzis, and drive-by shootings have replaced schoolyard rumbles.

Does TV really intensify violent behavior?

After review of hundreds of research findings, three major national studies have concluded that heavy exposure to televised violence is one of the significant causes of violence in society:

The Surgeon General’s Commission Report (1972).
The National Institute of Mental Health Ten-Year Follow-up (1982).
The report of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Television in Society (1992).

Viewing violence on the screen has the following negative effects:

It increases the viewer’s fear of becoming a victim of violence, with a resultant increase in self-protective behaviors and increased mistrust of others.
It desensitizes the viewer to violence, resulting in a calloused attitude toward violence directed at others and a decreased likelihood of taking action to help a victim of violence.
It increases the viewer’s appetite for becoming involved with violence.
It often demonstrates how desirable commodities can be obtained through the use of aggression and violence.
Sexual violence in X- and R-rated videotapes widely available to teenagers has also been shown to cause an increase male aggression against females.
These effects are both short term and long lasting. A longitudinal study of boys found a significant relation between exposure to TV violence at 8 years of age and antisocial acts--including serious violent criminal offenses and spouse abuse--22 years later.

Where Do We Go from Here?

The process by which violence is taught is circular: It begins in the family, expanding through the culture of the larger society in which a child grows and matures and then again is reinforced or discouraged in the family.

The search for ways to help children learn more appropriate behaviors (i.e., nonviolent responses to life stressors) requires a close look at institutional practices, public policies, and media programming that perpetuate violent attitudes, images, and behaviors.

When parents demean and strike each other or their children, when children are encouraged to be bullies or fight back on the playground, and when they have easy access to real or toy guns and other weapons, violence is being taught.

When stereotypes and prejudice frame interactions with people who are different from ourselves, the scene is being set for violence. Glorifying war and relishing violence in competitive sports may reinforce violent behavior.

When violence and sexual aggression are combined in the media, in song lyrics, in multimedia computer games, and in the vernacular, the message of violence (including sexual assault) is reinforced.

"Rather than waiting until violence has been learned and practiced and then devoting increased resources to hiring policemen, building more prisons, and sentencing three-time offenders to life imprisonment, it would be more effective to redirect the resources to early violence prevention programs, particularly for young children and preadolescents."

APA Commission on Violence and Youth

By contrast, we reduce the chance of violence in our youth when we give them the ability to arrive at nonviolent solutions to problems by teaching them skills such as:

Problem-solving
Stress management
Assertiveness
Anger control
Impulse control
- Start as early as possible.
- Educate parents and other caregivers in prevention strategies. Teaching parents effective, nonviolent coping skills is critical in any intervention program.
- Address aggression as part of a constellation of antisocial behavior in a child.
- Include numerous components of the child’s environment
- Parent training and support, Head Start and school-based programs, peer mentoring and support programs, individual and family counseling and therapy, and community-based programs appear to work best.

In summary, to be effective, youth violence prevention and intervention programs must:

A generation of Americans is at risk. We must make a legislative and social commitment to the reduction of aggression and violence in society. Everyone who comes into contact with a youth--parents, educators, child care providers, health care providers--has the potential, one way or another, to mitigate a child’s involvement with violent behavior. Every institution that touches that child can contribute positively to a child’s sense of safety by teaching and demonstrating peaceful, effective coping alternatives to violence.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that between 1985 and 1994, there was a 40 percent increase in murders, rapes, robberies, and assaults reported to law enforcement agencies across the nation. And despite their relatively low numbers in the population, our youth were responsible for 26 percent of this growth in violence.