Crime rates have decreased across the United States, but violent crimes among juveniles increased by 14.9 percent from 1989 to 1998. Factors such as child abuse, a difficult home life, and exposure to crime may adversely affect juvenile behavior. However, serious and violent juvenile offenders tend to develop behavior problems that can include aggression, dishonesty, property offenses, and conflict with authority figures from childhood to adolescence. Recent research traces violent juvenile behavior to human and social elements rather than solely biological factors. Influences such as community environment, economics, parental care, and school involvement now appear to help determine violent behavior among adolescents. Therefore, countermeasures that may include increased parental and community involvement, the implementation of crime prevention strategies, and intervention of school personnel, can help reduce the juvenile delinquency rate. Police agencies must develop and implement comprehensive strategies to help deter violent juvenile offenders, because the number of such offenders has increased at a rapid pace. It is never too early in a child's life for establishing crime prevention programs; it is never too late for intervention. Photographs and 26 references