Homicidal violence among adolescent youth in American inner cities has
been documented and studied for some time. A pattern of elevated leth
al violence has been observed to peak during adolescence; this has res
ulted in homicide being identified as one of the major causes of death
among adolescents. Further, homicide is reported to be particularly p
revalent among ethnic minority males residing in major metropolitan ar
eas in the United States. Even more alarming is the fact that the perp
etrators of these homicides are also adolescent urban youth. The reali
ty of this pattern of homicidal violence among urban adolescent youth
begs more thorough conceptual study.