Essays in the book describe recent trends in youth violence, develop and test some of the principal theories that might help to explain it, and offer advice about what interventions would be just and practically useful. The United States has experienced an epidemic of youth violence. However, despite the increases in youth violence and youth homicide, youth violence never amounts to a large proportion of violence in the United States; the main action remains with adults. Guns figure more prominently in youth violence and homicides than before. It is the gun homicides that add the increment of violence that constitutes the epidemic. The article discusses the demographics of youth violence, risk factors, the spreading culture of violence, the crack epidemic and its relationship to the epidemic of youth violence, how to intervene, and community involvement. References