Poverty, Inequality, and Youth Violence

Bibliographic Data

ID9748201
AuthorsRonald C Kramer (Western Michigan University), Ronald Kramer (0000-0002-5620-178X, Western Michigan University, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume567
Issue1
Pages123-139
Publication date2000-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0002716200567001009
OpenAlexW4230082380
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited19

Recent school shooting incidents have served to highlight the social problem of lethal violence by young people in the United States. While many factors need to be considered, this article argues that broader social and economic forces such as poverty, inequality, and social exclusion shape most of the problem of youth violence in America. These structural factors tend to foster violence indirectly through their impact on the close-in institutions of the family, school, and community. Using the organizing concepts of social support and informal social controls, the article examines theory and research on the connections between economic inequality and social exclusion, the close-in institutions of family and community, and violent youth crime. It is argued that structural forces reduce the ability of families and communities to provide the social support and informal social control needed to prevent youth violence. Policy implications are briefly discussed

Criminology · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Inequality · Informal social control · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Social control · Social exclusion · Social inequality · Social science · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Structural inequality · Structural violence · Youth studies · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Mathematics · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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