Part I is an empirical examination of youth violence in the 1990's. One chapter describes the crisis mood surrounding youth violence in the 1990's and compares the media coverage and legislative responses of recent years to earlier periods of focus on juvenile crime. Another chapter explores the special character of adolescent violence in the United States, comparing patterns and rates of violent crimes by adolescents with typical violence by older offenders. Two chapters address the factual evidence of crisis conditions. Part II examines the legal principles and specific policy options available to respond to violent acts by early and middle adolescents. One chapter sets out basic principles that should inform policy choices, and another chapter reviews strategies and tactics to control the risks of the adolescent misuse of guns. A third chapter discusses standards for the transfer of juveniles accused of violent crime to criminal courts, followed by a chapter that discusses the legal system's responses to adolescents who kill. The concluding section of the book puts the debate about youth violence into two broader contexts: whether the current juvenile justice system can effectively deal with violent juveniles and the priority given to youth violence as an element of a comprehensive youth policy. 108 references and a subject index