| Considering the impact that firearms and violence are having on America's youth, it is important to conduct studies into adolescent possession and use of weapons, especially studies involving inner-city minority youth. This project utilizes data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) to: (1) report on the levels and correlates of weapon ownership and use, in a representative sample of 1,000 inner-city youth and their parents residing in Rochester, New York; (2) utilize the project's multi-year, panel design to explore unaddressed issues in weapon-related research, including prevalence, frequency, escalation, and specialization patterns over time; (3) focus on the neglected area of female weapon ownership and use, and to study other weapons (e.g. knives) in addition to firearms; and (4) develop and test a theory of weapon use among urban youth based on an elaborated version of Social Disorganization Theory.;The time frame RYDS data were collected corresponds directly to the time frame large increases in adolescent violence were being exhibited in this Country. Results from this study indicate a large degree of discordance between parent and child accounts of household weapon ownership. Rates of weapon carrying among RYDS subjects were somewhat lower than those reported in other studies of inner-city youth. Although males were more likely than females to carry all types of weapons, among weapon carriers, it was females who tended to carry more often. Some support was found for the notion that firearm carriers may possess more deviant motivations, values, and beliefs than youth who carry other types of weapons. A high degree of specialization in weapon carrying was found, both with regard to the probability of carrying a weapon and with regard to the type of weapon carried. Consistent with the literature, this study found that the distinction between protective and aggressive weapon use is often a blurry one, although there did exist a sizable minority of youth who carried weapons without being involved in any serious delinquent behavior. Finally, limited support was obtained for an elaborated version of Social Disorganization Theory explaining adolescent weapon carrying. |
