Youth violence: What we know and what we need to know
Bushman BJ1,
Newman K2,
Calvert SL3,
Downey G4,
Dredze M5,
Gottfredson M6,
Jablonski NG7,
Masten AS8,
Morrill C9,
Neill DB10,
Romer D11,
Webster DW12.
- 1School of Communication and Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University.
- 2Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
- 3Department of Psychology and Children's Digital Media Center, Georgetown University.
- 4Department of Psychology and Center for Justice, Columbia University.
- 5Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University.
- 6Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, University of California, Irvine.
- 7Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University.
- 8Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.
- 9School of Law and Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley.
- 10Event and Pattern Detection Laboratory, H. J. Heinz III College, Carnegie Mellon University.
- 11Adolescent Communication Institute of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania.
- 12Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins University.
Abstract
School shootings tear the fabric of society. In the wake of a school shooting, parents, pediatricians, policymakers, politicians, and the public search for "the" cause of the shooting. But there is no single cause. The causes of school shootings are extremely complex. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School rampage shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, we wrote a report for the National Science Foundation on what is known and not known about youth violence. This article summarizes and updates that report. After distinguishing violent behavior from aggressive behavior, we describe the prevalence of gun violence in the United States and age-related risks for violence. We delineate important differences between violence in the context of rare rampage school shootings, and much more common urban street violence. Acts of violence are influenced by multiple factors, often acting together. We summarize evidence on some major risk factors and protective factors for youth violence, highlighting individual and contextual factors, which often interact. We consider new quantitative "data mining" procedures that can be used to predict youth violence perpetrated by groups and individuals, recognizing critical issues of privacy and ethical concerns that arise in the prediction of violence. We also discuss implications of the current evidence for reducing youth violence, and we offer suggestions for future research. We conclude by arguing that the prevention of youth violence should be a national priority.
No comments:
Post a Comment