By Simon I. Singer

Recriminalizing Delinquency presents a case study of legislation that redefines previous acts of delinquency as crimes, and delinquents as juvenile offenders. It examines one state's response to violent juvenile crime through waiver legislation that transfers jurisdiction over juveniles from juvenile court to criminal court. It focuses on the creation, implementation, and effects of waiver legislation that lowered the eligible age of criminal responsibility to thirteen for murder and fourteen for other violent offenses.

New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 243p.

By Aaron Kupchik

By comparing how adolescents are prosecuted and punished in juvenile and criminal (adult) courts, Aaron Kupchik finds that prosecuting adolescents in criminal court does not fit with our cultural understandings of youthfulness. As a result, adolescents who are transferred to criminal courts are still judged as juveniles. Ultimately, Kupchik makes a compelling argument for the suitability of juvenile courts in treating adolescents. Judging Juveniles suggests that justice would be better served if adolescents were handled by the system designed to address their special needs.

New York: New York University Press, 2006. 211p.

By Ruth Dean and Melissa Thomson

Presents an overview of the problem of teenage prostitutes, including some of the causes and consequences of this phenomenon and what can be done to prevent it

San Diego: Lucent Books, 1998. 96p.

By Scott H. Decker

This study identified and analyzed convergence and differences between gang membership and terrorist groups, with attention to organizational structure, group process, the use of social media, and imprisonment in the process of radicalization.

After identifying points of convergence and differences between terrorist groups and gangs, this review of relevant literature found little evidence that American street gangs are becoming increasingly radicalized or that their members are being actively recruited by terrorist groups. Most gang members are characterized by the lack of a political or religious orientation. … Prison is a place to look for signs of radicalization among gang members into terrorist commitments; however, while in prison, street-gang members tend to affiliate with prison gangs largely along racial and ethnic lines influenced by criminal codes, not religious or political ideologies that advocate ideologically based violence.

El Paso, TX: Center for Law & Human Behavior, The University of Texas at El Paso, 2016. 111p.

By Claire Alexander

. In scrutinizing the discourse on ‘gangs’ in media reports and speeches made by politicians, the author demonstrates that the racialization of gun and knife-enabled crime is the consequence of casual labelling. Referring to a speech by Tony Blair in February 2007, in which he uses words ‘black kids’, ‘gangs’, ‘criminal cultures’ and ‘the black community’, the author shows how it effectively ‘serves to collectivize the problem as one specific to, arising from and potentially encompassing, the black community as a whole’. …Targeting gangs and using civil injunctions will perpetuate the problem by drawing more young black people into the justice system. This is happening while the over-representation of young black people in the criminal justice system and experiences of disadvantage and discrimination in other areas remains to be addressed. … There are better ways of dealing with it: involving young people from under-privileged groups in positive activities from an early age, supporting parents with limited resources and supervising and supporting young offenders caught up in the criminal justice system

London: Runnymede Trust, 2008. 24p.

By Judith A. Aldridge and Juan Medina-Ariza

When we began planning this research seven years ago, in the UK there was: (1) increasing media attention toward gangs; (2) some historical or outdated research accounts suggesting gangs have long existed in the UK; (3) a denial, nonetheless, by many academics, practitioners and policy makers of a gang problem, resulting in inadequate theoretical understanding and policy treatment; and (4) emerging indications that between the media hype and this denial, changes around gangs were taking place.

Swindon: Economic and Social Research Council, 2008. 23p.

By Robert McLean

After many years of decline, reported levels of youth violence and gang culture in Britain began to increase again in 2014, and have continued to do so since, particularly in England and Wales. This has happened against the backdrop of deindustrialisation, and as the result of a lack of local community investment, as well as the continuing issues associated with the profiling and criminalisation of young working-class men, particularly those from ethnic minority communities. This document comprises two parts. Part I reviews contemporary literature on gang culture and highlights the most pertinent findings, which were used to brief conversations at the Cumberland Lodge Conference on ‘Understanding and Policing Gangs’ in June 2019. Part II draws upon those conference conversations and presents key themes that cut across the various panel discussions. It also outlines recommendations that emerged from both the conference discussions and a follow-up consultation to further scrutinise the findings, held in October 2019. These recommendations seek to outline ways in which gang culture might be addressed in the UK, and how communities might be better policed.

Windsor, UK: Cumberland Lodge, 2020. 80p.

By Martin Kalb

In the lean and anxious years following World War II, Munich society became obsessed with the moral condition of its youth. Initially born of the economic and social disruption of the war years, a preoccupation with juvenile delinquency progressed into a full-blown panic over the hypothetical threat that young men and women posed to postwar stability. As Martin Kalb shows in this fascinating study, constructs like the rowdy young boy and the sexually deviant girl served as proxies for the diffuse fears of adult society, while allowing authorities ranging from local institutions to the U.S. military government to strengthen forms of social control.

New York: Berghahn Books, 2016. 285p.

By Efi Avdela

This book examines how the intensive discussions about the issue of juvenile delinquency in the new international organizations (United Nations, World Health Organization, Council of Europe), which emerged after the end of the Second World War, internationalized the anxieties generated in the fifties and sixties by its purported increase in Europe and beyond. Greece, a regular member-state, anxious to ensure international legitimacy in the aftermath of the Civil War, presented abroad an embellished picture of the measures undertaken at home for the prevention and containment of juvenile delinquency, sidestepping the strong moralism and the juridical formalism that dominated both official and unofficial approaches.

Gottingen: V&R unipress GmbH, (Vienna University Press), 2019.

By Alava Séraphin, Divina Frau-Meigs and Ghayda Hassan

Does social media lead vulnerable individuals to resort to violence? Many people believe it does. And they respond with online censorship, surveillance and counter-speech. But what do we really know about the Internet as a cause, and what do we know about the impact of these reactions? All over the world, governments and Internet companies are making decisions on the basis of assumptions about the causes and remedies to violent attacks. The challenge is to have analysis and responses firmly grounded. The need is for a policy that is constructed on the basis of facts and evidence, and not founded on hunches – or driven by panic and fear mongering. It is in this context that UNESCO has commissioned the study titled Youth and Violent Extremism on Social Media – Mapping the Research. This work provides a global mapping of research (mainly during 2012-16) about the assumed roles played by social media in violent radicalization processes, especially when they affect youth and women. The research responds to the belief that the Internet at large is an active vector for violent radicalization that facilitates the proliferation of violent extremist ideologies. Indeed, much research shows that protagonists are indeed heavily spread throughout the Internet. There is a growing body of knowledge about how terrorists use cyberspace. Less clear, however, is the impact of this use, and even more opaque is the extent to which counter measures are helping to promote peaceful alternatives. While the Internet may play a facilitating role, it is not established that there is a causative link between it and radicalization towards extremism, violent radicalization, or the commission of actual acts of extremist violence.

Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2019. 168p.

By Marty Langley and Josh Sugarmann

The gun violence epidemic is devastating for America’s youth. VPC research helps educate the public on youth gun violence victimization, and we work directly with policymakers, gun violence prevention groups, and community leaders to move toward effective solutions.

For five consecutive years, the VPC published Lost Youth, a series of reports that put a spotlight on youth victims of gun violence in California county by county. The primary goal of these reports is to offer localized information on youth homicide victimization on the county level to better inform citizens, advocates, service providers, and policymakers.

By comparing on a county-by-county level the homicide rates for youth and young adults in California, it is our goal to add a new, ongoing context for presenting information and measuring progress on gun violence against youth, while at the same time helping to support discussion, analysis, policy development, and action. Above all, this work is conducted in the belief that information aids in the development of sound prevention strategies — on the local, state, and national levels.

Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2015. 36p.

By Patricia E. Campie, Anthony Petrosino, et al.

The Massachusetts Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI) commissioned a review of the evidence underlying effective programs designed to reduce serious violence among targeted groups of young offenders. A Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) methodology was used to identify and determine the effectiveness of rigorous evaluation studies of programs most similar to the SSYI intervention. A review of the implementation science literature complemented the evidence review to determine what characteristics organizations should demonstrate in order to produce optimal results from their SSYI efforts. Taken together, the guidance from evaluations of effective programs and the characteristics of high quality implementation provide SSYI with valuable insight on enhancing and improving violence prevention efforts moving forward.

Boston: Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, 2013. 50p.

By Jon Bannister, Jon Pickering, Susan Batchelor, Michele Burman, Keith Kintrea and Susan MccVie

Background and Aims 1. Recent years have witnessed growing concern about the existence of youth gangs and the engagement of their members in violent conflict involving knives and other weapons. However, there is limited reliable evidence relating to the nature, form and prevalence of youth ‘gangs’ and knife carrying in Scotland. Recognising these information shortfalls, the research reported here set out to: • Provide an overview of what is known about the nature and extent of youth gang activity and knife carrying in a set of case study locations. • Provide an in-depth account of the structures and activities of youth gangs in these settings. • Provide an in-depth account of the knife carrying in these settings. • Offer a series of recommendations for interventions in these behaviours based on this evidence. 2. The research was conducted in 5 case study locations, namely: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire. There were two major data collection components. First, the research interviewed those engaged in the delivery of services designed to manage and challenge problematic youth behaviours, inclusive of youth gangs and knife carrying. Second, the research gained access (via these services) to a large sample of young people. Despite the intention to interview distinct samples of gang members and knife carriers, most of the young people identified through this methodological approach held some form of group affiliation.

Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, 2010. 90p.

By Susan McVie

This report presents key findings on gang membership and knife carrying amongst a cohort of young people based on data collected by the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (ESYTC). The analysis was commissioned in light of a lack of quantitative data measuring the extent of gang membership and knife crime in Scotland.

Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), 2010. 50p.

By Simon McMahon (Project Oracle) and Jyoti Belur

The suggestion that sport and physical activity can have a positive impact on young people’s lives is often intuitively accepted as common sense. Yet the way that positive change can be brought about is often considerably more vague. This report takes a step towards filling this gap by synthesising available evaluations of sports-based interventions in London. In doing so, it contributes to building an evidence base that can inform policy decisions and future interventions.

London: Project Oracle, 2013. 22p.

By Panu Poutvaara and Mikael Priks

This paper isolates the causal effect of policing on group violence, using unique panel data on self-reported crime by soccer and ice hockey hooligans. The problem of reverse causality from violence to policing is solved by two drastic reallocations of the Stockholm Supporter Police unit to other activities following the 9/11 terrorist attack in September 2001 and the Tsunami catastrophe in December 2004. Difference-in-difference analysis reveals that Stockholm-related hooligan violence increased dramatically during these periods.

Copenhagen: Centre for Economic and Business Research, Copenhagen Business School, 2007. 27p.

By John G. Horgan, Paul Gill, Noemie Bouhana, James Silver and Emily Corner

Lone actor terrorists (sometimes referred to as ‘lone wolves’) and mass murderers are more often than not assumed to be distinct, with little validity for comparison. Yet, both engage (or attempt to engage) in largely public and highly publicized acts of violence and often use similar weapons. - Using a series of bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses, we compared demographic, psychological and offense-related behavioral variables across and between 71 lone actor terrorists and 115 solo mass murderers. - Results indicate there is little to distinguish these offender types in terms of their socio-demographic profiles. However, their behaviors significantly differ with regards to (a) the degree to which they interact with co-conspirators (b) their antecedent event behaviors and (c) the degree to which they leak information prior to the attack.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2016. 122p.

By Jonathan Ilan

Crime must be understood as a facet of class-cultural interaction, given that the majority of the convicted are young, urban, disadvantaged males, while the criminal law enshrines and enforces what could be viewed as middle-class behavioural expectations. Class-cultural dynamics have become increasingly complex in late modernity, however, with traditional certainties and class boundaries becoming blurred and indistinct. This thesis examines the social and cultural factors underlying youth offending and justice in an inner-city Dublin community through an ethnographic treatment of the various actors in a locality which has undergone significant change in recent years. The Crew, a group of young offenders, are shown to adhere to a ‘rough’or ‘street’variant of working class values, born of the experience of particularly intense disadvantage and exclusion. The group’s base is in the Northstreet community, which historically condoned a level of petty criminality as a response to the absolute poverty experienced by its residents. Internal divisions, economic resurgence and urban renewal have altered the way of life for the majority of the residents of this public housing complex, which has rendered the young offenders both a symbolic reminder of the past, and an obstacle to community leadership attempts to represent contemporary Northstreet as a ‘respectable area’. While developments in policing strategies have in turn blurred the traditional opposition between the Gardai and working-class communities, The Crew and the police force nevertheless continue to construct each other as opponents, engaging in a game-like conflict fuelled by the clash 'street' and 'decent' values.

Dublin: Technological University Dublin, 2007. 249p.

By The Juvenile Law Center

The United States incarcerates youth at more than double the rate of any other country in the world. On any given day, almost 50,000 young people are locked up in juvenile facilities across the country. Although overall juvenile incarceration rates have been falling, Black youth are still over five times more likely than their white peers to be detained or committed to an institution.

We know these institutions—many of which are over 100 years old—are part of a punitive corrections-oriented approach that does not work for youth. Research shows that institutional settings harm young people developmentally, psychologically, and—far too often—physically. Yet our country continues to rely on this outdated model as the backbone of its juvenile justice system.

Philadelphia: Juvenile Law Center, 2018. 31p.

By Lisa Pilnik, Robert G. Schwartz, Karen Lindell, Jessica Feierman and Christina Sorenson

There is broad consensus that incarcerating youth in the juvenile justice system is both dangerous and ineffective. Secure facilities and other juvenile justice placements pose a high risk of short- and long-term harm to children. Placing young people outside their homes disrupts family ties, undermines educational continuity and developmental trajectory, and can cause trauma and undermine a child’s developmental trajectory. Recent research has shown that placement also leads to long-term mental and physical health consequences. Moreover, far too many youth sent to “treatment” facilities experience abuse or neglect and fail to receive needed behavioral health services. Pennsylvania stakeholders have taken important steps to decrease placement rates and improve outcomes for youth—and local and state leadership is already engaged in continuing the reform efforts. At the same time, the need to dramatically change our responses to young people in the justice system is obvious. Where Pennsylvania was widely recognized as a leader in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, we now lag behind other states in the extent to which we use placement and the extent of our racial disparities. Wordsworth. VisionQuest. Glen Mills. Luzerne. Year after year, facilities in Pennsylvania are sued or shut down after the horrific treatment of youth in their care comes to light. Each time, children are removed from the placement and additional oversight is imposed to try to prevent a recurrence, and then it happens again. Oversight isn’t enough. To meet its obligations to our children, Pennsylvania must re-examine its reliance on juvenile placements. Working in collaboration with youth in the system and their families, we must create a system that stresses high-quality community-based solutions that are safer for children, promote public safety, and more effectively and efficiently use our resources.

Philadelphia: Juvenile Law Center, 2019. 44p.