Adolescent Homicides in Los Angeles: Are They Different from Other Homicides. Summary.

摘要

The avid media attention and public concern regarding child superpredators and youth offender-precipitated bloodbaths has waned recently in the face of dramatic declines in homicide and violence. California's 1998 homicide rate of 6.5 is the lowest in three decades and represents the fifth consecutive year of decline. Recent reductions in youth violence have reflected these more general trends. In 1998, juvenile arrests for violent crimes in the US were 19 percent lower than their peak in 1994, and arrests for murder decreased 48 percent from 1994 to 1998. These recent declines in youth violence offer an opportunity to redirect policy and practice attention toward prevention. It is critical that recommended strategies be based on sound empirical assessments of the nature of youth violence. Few youth violence prevention programs have been adequately evaluated; only a handful have withstood the rigor of a strong scientific evaluation design and produced positive effects on their clients.