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Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
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Youth Violence in Context

The Roles of Sex, Race, and Community in Offending

Dana Peterson

University at Albany, peterson{at}albany.edu

Finn-Aage Esbensen

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Terrance J. Taylor

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Adrienne Freng

University of Wyoming

Youth violence garners considerable attention in the media as well as in public policy debates. In spite of this interest and attention to youth violence, stereotypes fueled by misperceptions about the epidemiology of youth violence often drive these discussions. Urban minority youth, especially males, are typically presented as the "dark stranger" responsible for much of this violence. Criminal justice and juvenile justice data tend to reinforce this perspective. In this article, the authors call into question the extent to which violent juvenile offending can be characterized as an urban minority male problem. A multisite sample of middle school students was used to examine the distribution of violent offending by sex, race/ethnicity, and community of residence.

Key Words: youth violence • sex/gender differences • race/ethnicity • community context • epidemiology • self-report

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Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Vol. 5, No. 4, 385-410 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1541204006297369
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