In the Line of Fire: Youth, Guns, and Violence in Urban America (Social Institutions and Social Change) - Softcover

Sheley, Joseph F.; Wright, James D.

9780202305493: In the Line of Fire: Youth, Guns, and Violence in Urban America (Social Institutions and Social Change)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 020230549X ISBN 13: 9780202305493

Publisher: De Gruyter, 1995

Drawing upon their research in the most extensive study to date, the authors here describe the means and methods of gun-related violence among urban youth. Using data collected from juvenile male inmates and male students in inner-city high schools, Sheley and Wright focus on the number, type, and method of acquisition of firearms, as well as the varying reasons given for carrying arms.

The book concludes by challenging some stereotypes, and urging a policy aimed at reducing the motivation for gun possession by youth, rather than simply attempting to remove guns from their hands.

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From the Back Cover:

Violence committed by and against juveniles has come increasingly to define the public's image of the crime problem and the larger debate over anticrime policy. Though crime rates in most cities have been relatively stable for several years, homicide rates and gun-related assaults involving young males in those same cities have been growing rapidly. In the Line of Fire describes the most extensive study to date of the means and methods of gun-related violence among urban youth. Focusing on the number and types of firearms juveniles possess as well as where, how, and why they acquire and carry guns, Sheley and Wright rely on data collected from male inmates in juvenile correctional facilities in four states and from male students in ten inner-city public high schools in those same states. Their findings confirm the prevalence of firearms in these selected populations, but challenge a number of common stereotypes concerning gun possession and use by juveniles. Fear - rather than the needs of criminal activity, drug trafficking, and gang affiliation - motivates juveniles to arm themselves. The authors urge a policy aimed at reducing such motivation rather than attempting to remove guns from the hands of youth.

About the Author:

James D. Wright is an author, educator, and the Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. He has written twenty-four books and more than 300 journal articles, book chapters, essays, reviews, and polemics.

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