ABSTRACT
High rates of violence among African-American youth have been deemed a public health concern. Although African-American youth make up only 16 percent of the youthful population, in 2002 they accounted for 43 percent of violent crime arrests, which were 3.8 times the arrest rate for white youth (Snyder, 2004). The Office of Juvenile Justice notes in 2002, that juvenile arrests for violent crime fell 47 percent from their high in 1993. Furthermore, Uniform Crime Reporting data show a significant narrowing of the racial disparity gap since 1980, when the racial disparity for violent crime arrests was 6.3 times greater for African-American youth than for white youth (Snyder, 2004). In 2002, approximately 1,610 juveniles were murdered with 46 percent of all murder victims being African American (Harms & Snyder, 2004). Although there have been some positive trends, overall violence among African-American youth remains a crucial problem, particularly for black youth.
