How do economic conditions such as poverty, unemployment, inflation, and economic growth impact youth violence? Economics and Youth Violence provides a much-needed new perspective on this crucial issue. Pinpointing the economic factors that are most important, the editors and contributors in this volume explore how different kinds of economic issues impact children, adolescents, and their families, schools, and communities. Offering new and important insights regarding the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and youth violence across a variety of times and places, chapters cover such issues as the effect of inflation on youth violence; new quantitative analysis of the connection between race, economic opportunity, and violence; and the cyclical nature of criminal backgrounds and economic disadvantage among families. Highlighting the complexities in the relationship between economic conditions, juvenile offenses, and the community and situational contexts in which their connections are forged, Economics and Youth Violence prompts important questions that will guide future research on the causes and prevention of youth violence. Contributors: Sarah Beth Barnett, Eric P. Baumer, Philippe Bourgois, Shawn Bushway, Philip J. Cook, Robert D. Crutchfield, Linda L. Dahlberg, Mark Edberg, Jeffrey Fagan, Xiangming Fang, Curtis S. Florence, Ekaterina Gorislavsky, Nancy G. Guerra, Karen Heimer, Janet L. Lauritsen, Jennifer L. Matjasko, James A. Mercy, Matthew Phillips, Richard Rosenfeld, Tim Wadsworth, Valerie West, Kevin T. Wolff
1 Introduction Part I: Trends in Macroeconomic Conditions and Youth Violence 2 The Net Effect of the Business Cycle on Crime and Violence 3 Are the Criminogenic Consequences of Economic Downturns Conditional? Assessing Potential Moderators of the Link between Adverse Economic Conditions and Crime Rates 4 Economic Conditions and Violent Victimization Trends among YouthPart II: The Neighborhood Context 5 The Nonlinear Effect of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Youth Violence 6 Aggravated Inequality 7 Street Markets, Adolescent Identity, and Violence 8 Incarceration and the Economic Fortunes of Urban Neighborhoods Part III: Child Development, Families, and Youth Violence 9 Macroeconomic Factors, Youth Violence, and the Developing Child 10 Macroeconomic Factors and Inequities in Youth Violence: The Cyclical Relationship between Community Conditions, Family Factors, and Youth Violence Part IV: Looking to the Future 11 Economic Opportunity and Youth ViolenceAbout the ContributorsIndex
