Youth and Violence

I would like to focus my first research topic on Age and Crime, more specifically, Youth and Violence.  This topic idea comes from our text in Chapter 4.  I chose this particular topic because I believe the environment children are exposed to influences the likelihood of them becoming involved in violence.  If children become involved in crime early in life it can shape who they become as adults.

"I think that when we're talking about youth violence, we're talking about kids who don't have opportunities, so they're engaged in a certain degree of lawlessness, because we as a society have failed them."    Matt Gonzalez

The following is a link to an article entitled Poverty, Inequality and Youth Violence.  The article covers research on how poverty and inequality directly affect youth and the chances of them becoming engaged in violence and crime.  When children are raised in poverty it creates inequality.  As a result, children can become angry, fearful and stressed out, which then, can lead to acting out in violence.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049498

This you tube video shows youth violence from various youth's perspectives and the positive action they are willing to take for peace.
 

The following link will take you to the government website for The National Criminal Justice Reference Service, U.S. Department of Justice.  This is a useful link in that it provides data, statistics and surveys that address specific contributors to juvenile crime.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/yviolence/statistics.html

The following link will take you to The Mercury News, a newspaper in San Jose, California.  The article covers a young boy who was a victim of a youth gang attack.  Instead of becoming angry and retaliating he found a way to do his part in making a change. 
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_21312171/federal-officials-laud-san-joses-youth-violence-efforts