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Public Health and the Prevention of Juvenile Criminal Violence

University of Massachusetts-Lowell

This article reviews the role that public health currently plays in preventing juvenile criminal violence and explores how the law-and-order approach—the dominant response to juvenile criminal violence—can benefit from the involvement of the health community. It finds that an increasingly punitive response to juvenile criminal violence in the United States represents an unsustainable approach to the problem. One approach to addressing the problem of juvenile violence that has garnered much attention and support over the past 2 decades, especially in the United States, is a public health approach. Although it emphasizes primary prevention, views violence as a threat to community health rather than community order, and adheres to scientific principles, it should be seen as not so much a challenge to law and order but rather as a complement to it—part of an effort to create a more balanced, comprehensive, and sustainable strategy in preventing and reducing juvenile criminal violence.

Key Words: public health • juvenile violence • violence prevention • sustainable crime control • juvenile justice system

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