According to the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, children with more than five risk factors and fewer than six protective factors have an 80 percent chance of committing future violent acts. The most salient risk factors according to various studies are violent family background, attachment disorder, cruelty to animals, prior assault (especially of an authority figure), fire setting, uncontrolled urination and bowel movements, and escape from custody (Howell, 1995). Violent behavior can be modeled for youth through community values that promote drug use and firearms, families that engage in aggressive and violent behavior and verbal exchanges, school problems, and negative peer influences. Individual risk factors include attachment disorders, comorbid psychiatric symptoms, neurological conditions and problems, below-average cognitive development, unmodulated emotion and lack of self-soothing ability, ineffective interpersonal skills, negative self-image, and early onset of chronic behavior problems. Multimodal treatment that meets the community, family, social, cognitive, emotional, personal, and educational needs of the child is important. Seven action steps are early prevention; early identification; complete, individualized assessment; treatment of the family unit; establishment of agency coordination of services; training of front-line workers; and the inclusion of a program evaluation component. 39 references