Youth Violence And Social Disintegration

How and why do young people become perpetrators and victims of violence? This volume examines violent behavior and addresses these questions in an international context. In youth violence, what roles are played by public spaces, the institutional context, socialization processes, religion and other kinds of ideologies, and, more generally, the experience of social disintegration? Are there global commonalities with regard to programs for preventing and intervening in youth crime? A look at the global trends of youth crime and violence and the development of social conditions for young people worldwide shows the importance of finding answers to these critical questions. The theoretical framework for articles in this volume is the theory of disintegration. The article authors examine whether the disintegration approach, which suggests that social disintegration encourages the development of social harmful attitudes and behavior, offers explanations for the forms of youth violence under examination and for the experience of violence. The analysis are deliberately very different from each other and show that there are many forms of youth violence that cannot be explained in terms of a single cause. The selection of topics reflects a comprehensive and committed approach to international social conditions and problems, as well as national differences, including minority and majority perspectives, which evade simplistic comparison. The volume concludes with a discussion of similarities and differences in youth violence prevention and intervention programs, with a view to establishing a basis for international collaborations. This is the 119th volume of New Directions for Youth Development, the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions. The result is a unique resource presenting thoughtful, multi-faceted approaches to helping our youth develop into responsible, stable, well-rounded citizens.

This important book deals with the problem of youth violence by attacking it at the grass-roots level -- the community.

The Control of Violence in Modern Society, starts from the hypothesis that in modern society we will face an increasing loss of control over certain phenomena of violence. This leads to unpredictable escalations and violence can no longer be contained adequately by the relevant control regimes, such as police, state surveillance institutions, national repression apparatuses and international law. However, before investigating this hypothesis from an internationally and historically comparative perspective, the terms and "tools" for this undertaking have to be rendered more precisely. Since both "control" and "violence" are all but clear-cut terms but rather highly debatable and contested concepts that may take multiple connotations. The main question is whether an increase in certain forms of violence can be explained by the failure or, in turn, "overeffectiveness" of certain control mechanisms. It is asked, for instance, which contribution religion can make to limit violence and, in turn, which destructive potential religion might have in its fundamentalist form. Moreover, the concept of individual self-control as well as social institutions and strategies of collective disengagement and de-radicalization are investigated with regard to their potential for controlling violence. The Control of Violence in Modern Society concludes with a re-examination of the hypothesis of a loss of control by specifying in what cases and under which circumstances we can speak of a loss of control over violence.

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.

For many children and young people, Britain is a harmful society in which to grow up. This book contextualizes the violence that occurs between a small number of young people within a wider perspective on social harm. Aimed at academics, youth workers and policy makers, the book presents a new way to make sense of this pressing social problem. The authors also propose measures to substantially improve the lives of Britain’s young people in areas ranging from the early years to youth services and the criminal justice system.

Dr. Bassarath has seen numerous youth in the juvenile justice system. He succintly distills current research into readable kernels of information about youth at risk for violence behavior. Limitations of knowledge and research are also discussed to demystify the science surrounding delinquency. A must for any parent or professional who deals with such youth on a regular basis.

Young people explain, excuse and justify violence in a range of situations and view violence prevention as a difficult, if not impossible, endeavour. But how do young people form these views, and how can this knowledge be used by schools to reduce youth violence? This book explores these questions in a study with British teenagers.

This book identifies and discusses types of youth violence in American society today. Causes of youth violence are discussed and linked to prevention and treatment programs and strategies to assess the likelihood of aggression or violence in children and youths are identified. Other topics covered include violence among girls, gang and drug-related violence, antibullying programs and spatial mapping strategies to reduce violence in schools.

Consisting of 28 articles, this comprehensive reference work on the study of crime, examines: its causes, effects, trends, and institutions, current philosophies of punishment and ways of controlling crime.

This is a resource for dealing with both perpetrators and victims of violence and understanding the risk factors facing youth. Presenting an assessment of effects of exposure to violence and the continuity of aggression from early childhood to adulthood, it outlines an integration strategy for public policy towards prevention and treatment.