Adolescent violence: concepts for a new millennium

Violence is a form of aggressive behavior that has a debilitating effect on the optimal growth and development of our youth. Violence pervades the lives of a significant proportion of all adolescents in the U.S., but has a particularly devastating impact on males and minority youth. Adolescent males are more likely to be victimizers and victims of violence and aggression, except in cases of sexual victimization and suicide attempts. For all adolescents, exposure to violence at home, school, or in the community is associated with aggression later in life, the development of supportive attitudes toward aggression and violence, psychological distress, school absenteeism, academic dysfunction, and subsequent injury. Violence has historical, cultural, and societal roots in our world. Until and unless we begin to understand where violence fits on the continuum of aggressive behavior and until we address the politics of violence, we will remain conflicted and paralyzed by the dangers our youth face. By understanding the social, political, and developmental aspects of violence and understanding the nature and characteristics of resilient children, we can better prepare our youth for life. We may not be able to protect our adolescents from exposure to violence, but we most certainly can help them develop the necessary skills to survive such exposure and work to enhance and strengthen their access to protective factors so that they can experience a healthy transition from adolescence to adulthood in this new millennium.