The research also examined the possible confounding effects of selected risk factors, including selling drugs and witnessing violence. The study was prompted by concerns over the increasing rates of violence among adolescents and young adults, especially black males, and by other research revealing that socioeconomic status is an important variable in helping explain racial differences in health-related behaviors. The present research used cross-sectional data originally collected as part of a longitudinal study of drug use patterns among individuals in a largely urban county in the southeast. The data were collected in 1994-95. Twenty-seven percent of the participants were African American, 51 percent were male, and the average age was 20.8 years. Results suggested that racial differences in violent behavior exist only among young adults of low SES and that finer SES distinctions within this group do not explain these differences. However, exposure to violence, a correlate of SES, accounted for racial differences in this subgroup. Findings suggested that future studies on racial differences in violence should further examine the role of SES and related risk factors. Tables and 34 references (Author abstract modified)