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Reducing Youth Gun Violence: An Overview of Programs and Initiatives

NCJ Number
154303
Date Published
May 1996
Length
85 pages
Annotation
This report discusses a wide range of youth violence prevention strategies, from school-based intervention to gun market interception, and relevant research, evaluation, and legislation are included to provide a context for successful violence prevention program implementation.
Abstract
The first section of the report describes state-of-the-art approaches to youth gun violence prevention and intervention; reviews the status of violence prevention programs throughout the United States and makes recommendations on how they can be more effective; suggests Federal and local partnerships to implement youth gun laws and programs; summarizes Federal and State legislation to reduce youth gun violence and references extensive documentation on this subject by the National Criminal Justice Association; assesses promising research on the incidence and context of youth gun violence and potential solutions from the fields of public health, criminology, and sociology; and discusses important new findings on youth violence from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the National Institute of Justice that will expand understanding of youth violence and its consequences. The second section of the report lists currently operating programs, contact information, program descriptions, and program evaluations when available. Readers are encouraged to use this section to assess the state- of-the-art in reducing youth gun violence; to examine programs being implemented in specific States and local communities of interests; and to contact individuals to share information with those in need of support, resources, and program guidance. The third section of the report identifies organizations working to get guns out of the hands of young people. The final section of the report contains abstracts of research on youth and guns that will help in developing public policies and public information campaigns and in informing other initiatives in the area of youth gun violence.