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On juvenile delinquency in America

Is a teenage violent offender a dangerous predator-or a vulnerable innocent that we should rescue from a life of crime? J. William Spencer probes our ambivalent response to youth violence to show how deeply entwined issues of crime, age, race, and class distort our understanding of an important social problem.

The rash of school shootings in the late 1990s has generated a tremendous amount of public concern about youth aggression and violence. But students, trainees, and professionals who work with children and adolescents have had no concise or systematic survey of our current knowledge about causes and effective approaches to intervention and prevention on which to draw. Youth Aggression and Violence has filled the void. Comprehensive and readable, it: * utilizes theory and research from the developmental psychology of "normal" children and adolescents, as well as material on "abnormal" forms of development, such as disruptive behavior disorders and juvenile delinquency; * situates youthful aggression and violence within the overall framework of children's moral development; * integrates quantitative research with carefully considered qualitative research and case studies; * discusses the genetic and biological underpinnings of youthful aggression, as well as family and social factors related to antisocial behavior; * emphasizes cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes involved in youth aggression and violence; * provides in-depth coverage of juvenile killers and school violence; * examines female aggression and violence in a variety of contexts; and * critically examines a number of questions frequently discussed in conjunction with youth violence, such as media violence, firearm accessibility, and the relationship between self-esteem and aggression.

This volume provides a systematic overview of the contemporary Latin American youth violence phenomenon. The authors focus specifically on youth gangs, juvenile justice issues, and applied research concerns, providing a rounded and balanced exploration of this increasingly important topic.

In Gender, Heterosexuality, and Youth Violence, James W. Messerschmidt unravels some of the mysteries of teenage violence. Written by one of the most respected scholars on the subject of gendered crime, this book provides a fascinating account of the connections among adolescent masculinities and femininities, bullying in schools, the body, heterosexuality, and violence and nonviolence. After an introduction that lays out key concepts, including a revised structured action theory, Messerschmidt shares six compelling life-histories of white working-class boys and girls who have all been victims of severe forms of bullying at school. The book is unique in its comparative approach between violent and nonviolent youth, between boys and girls as offenders and non-offenders, between assaultive and sexual violence, and among a variety of masculinities and femininities. It also addresses how heterosexuality is related to sex, gender, and certain forms of violence or non-violence. The penetrating life histories are partially drawn from Messerschmid’s previous books Nine Lives and Flesh and Blood, as well as several completely new life-history interviews. The book’s cutting-edge conceptualization of these life histories provides novel insight into the vexing question of youth violence.

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.

This is a book about behavioral threat assessment that focuses on prevention and early intervention. It's about thoughtful connection, inclusion, prosocial relationship building, and the restoration of meaningful and positive experiences for young people within the school environment. It's about the importance of staying objective, avoiding assumptions, and eliminating prejudgment. Finally, it's about redirecting that person to constructive, nonviolent solutions and avoiding arrest, institutionalization, or worse.

'Lays down a transformative path to peace' David Lammy MP 'A devastating and beautifully-drawn tribute to the young boys that the media turns into statistics of knife crime' Candice Carty-Williams 'I came away from this book enraged, enlightened and with a sense of urgency to do something' Annie Mac _________________________ Demetri wants to study criminology at university to understand why people around him carry knives. Jhemar is determined to advocate for his community following the murder of a loved one. Carl's exclusion leaves him vulnerable to the sinister school-to-prison pipeline, but he is resolute to defy expectations. Tony, the tireless manager of a community centre, is fighting not only for the lives of local young people, but to keep the centre's doors open. Drawing on the latest research and interviews with experts, this refreshingly nuanced and beautifully written book interweaves the stories of a cast of characters at the sharp end of the UK's serious youth violence epidemic, with chapters on subjects such as social media, gentrification and criminal justice. Showing how we are all connected to this tragedy, Cut Short is a gripping, urgent, sympathetic and often painful portrait of a society fracturing along lines of race, class and postcode. It is a blueprint for positive change, and a book we desperately need. _________________________ 'Compelling' The Sunday Times; 'Assured' Observer; 'Brilliantly written' Nikesh Shukla 'Makes you stop and think' Nick Robinson, BBC R4's Today programme 'This book strongly gives a voice to the voiceless . . . essential reading' Kenny Allstar 'Angry, impassioned, informed, accurate - the story behind the cutting short of public health and young lives' Danny Dorling 'Ciaran's work is informed by lived experience at the frontline of social change. It takes a sensitive and respectful look at the truths less often told' George the Poet