Young Homicide Offenders and Victims : Risk Factors, Prediction, and Prevention from Childhood

The first decade of the new century proved to be a deadly one for many children and young people in the United States. Despite increased policing on the streets, higher rates of incarceration, harsher sentencing, stricter control of illegal drugs, and attempts to reduce access to firearms, FBI reports show that more than 7,300 young people between the ages of 15 and 29 were murdered in 2008 alone. It’s clear that traditional crime reduction strategies have not stemmed the rising tide of homicides perpetrated by and upon one of society’s most vulnerable populations. Innovative, practicable solutions are needed to staunch this lethal trend.

Based on the findings of a unique longitudinal study, Young Homicide Offenders and Victims: Risk Factors, Prediction, and Prevention from Childhood now provides experts with unprecedented analysis of prospectively collected data on 1,517 boys and young men who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Following these males from childhood into early adulthood, examining their lives and the conditions under which they grew up in a representative mid-sized American city, the study forms the basis of this unique volume designed to stimulate debate on key questions of prevention and intervention as well as dispel popular myths about the childhood and adolescent features of homicide offenders and homicide victims.

Key areas of coverage include:

• Early childhood risk factors of young homicide offenders and victims.
• Insights into homicide offenders’ lives as told in their own words.
• The effectiveness of screening for at-risk youth.
• Risk factor–based prevention and intervention strategies.
• The impact of interventions on homicide rates.
• Policy implications at the local, state, and national levels.

Young Homicide Offenders and Victims: Risk Factors, Prediction, and Prevention from Childhood is essential reading for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers across the fields of juvenile justice and criminology, developmental psychology, sociology, psychiatry, public health, and policy making.

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“This book changes the game in violence research … The analysis is masterful, the prose is readable, and the achievement is nothing short of stunning.”
Richard Rosenfeld, Ph.D. / Curators Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis

“This book will stand the test of time as a landmark homicide study.”
James C. Howell, Ph.D. / Senior Research Associate, National Gang Center

“This is a fascinating, pioneering book … The authors’ sophisticated analyses demonstrate convincingly the considerable value of prospective longitudinal data for enhancing our understanding of the etiology and control of lethal violence.”
Steven F. Messner, Ph.D. / Distinguished Teacher Professor, Department of Sociology, University at Albany, SUNY / President, American Society of Criminology

David P. Farrington, O.B.E., is Professor of Psychological Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, Cambridge University, and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh. He is co-chair of the U.S. National Institute of Justice Study Group on Transitions from Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime and co-chair of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Expert Panel on Protective Factors against Youth Violence. His major research interest is in developmental criminology, and he is Director of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, which is a prospective longitudinal survey of over 400 London males from age 8 to age 48. In addition to over 500 published journal articles and book chapters on criminological and psychological topics, he has published over 75 books, monographs and government publications.

Rolf Loeber is Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Epidemiology at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, and Professor of Juvenile Delinquency and Social Development, Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands. He is Codirector of the Life History Program and is principal investigator of three longitudinal studies, the Pittsburgh Youth Study, the Developmental Trends Study, and the Pittsburgh Girls Study. He has published widely in the fields of juvenile antisocial behavior and delinquency, substance use, and mental health problems (more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and 90 book chapters and other papers).