Youth violence is a pressing social concern and this book examines several elements of youth violence prevention. It offers state-of-the-art research on several different topics including: the relationship between bullying offending and victimization; the relationship between race and the code of the streets’ explanation for violent offending; and how differences in methodology affect the validity of the multiple marginality theory of gang membership. It also examines an understudied population: gay gang members as well as providing an analysis of the degree to which risk factors for gang membership and violent offending are sex-specific. The critical component of this text is the melding of research with practical implications for youth violence prevention specialists. As such, the book should be useful to both academic and practitioner audiences.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Crime & Justice.