Psychosocial and environmental correlates of violence perpetration among African-American urban youth

Purpose: To ascertain the proportion of youths involved in acts of violence ; to examine individual, social, and environmental factors associated with perpetration; and to determine the relationship among victimization, witnes sing, and perpetration of violence. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed by 349 volunteer males and females, aged 9-15 years, 96% of whom were African-American. The youths wer e recruited from recreation centers associated with 10 public-housing commu nities in an eastern city. Survey instruments included the Child Health and Illness Profile, Survey of Children's Exposure to Community Violence, and other standardized questionnaires. Statistical analyses included Chi-square , correlation, regression, and test for linear trends. Results: Half of the youths self-reported at least one act of violence perp etration, with similar distributions among males and females. One-third of the youths reported both personal victimization and the witnessing of viole nt events. Victim and witness status were moderately correlated. Individual risk behaviors and victimization made significant contributions to perpetr ation status. Further analysis demonstrated a linear relationship between a cts of perpetration and number of victimization events. Conclusions: Participation in problem behaviors may place youths in circums tances in which they may be victim, witness, or aggressor. The chronic and high levels of community violence to which many youths are exposed are like ly to contribute to an individual's participation in acts of violence. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2000.