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The Ur street gang plays a central role in the imagery of violence currently being disseminated by the MM. Testing the reality of this image requires careful empirical studies of actual gangs. A study involving 150 gangs in Midcity, a slum district of an eastern metropolis, & focusing on 7 gangs subject to intensive field observation reveals marked diff's between the public imagery & res-derived findings. While members of slum street gangs engaged in violent crime to a greater degree than Me adolescents, violence was not a central preoccupation of the gangs, & most violent crimes were of the less serious variety. Cruel or sadistic violence was rare; violence was seldom senseless or irrational. Property damage was relatively uncommon. Participation in violent crimes had little to do with race, but was directly related to sex, age & SS; most active were M's of Ls during late adolescence. The control of gang violence is seen to involve techniques for altering motivations similar to those which undergird nat'l wars. HA.

I propose a dual conceptualization of violent crime. Since violent crime is both violence and crime, theories of aggression and deviance are required to understand it. I argue that both harm-doing and rule breaking are instrumental behaviors and that a bounded rational choice approach can account for both behaviors. However, while some of the causes of harm-doing and deviance (and violent and nonviolent crime) are the same, some are different. Theories of crime and deviance cannot explain why one only observes individual and group differences in violent crime and theories of aggression and violence cannot explain why one observes differences in all types of crimes. Such theories are "barking up the wrong tree.". Adapted from the source document.

"The author proposes a dual conceptualization of violent crime. Since violent crime is both violence and crime, theories of aggression and deviance are required to understand it. He argues that both harm-doing and rule breaking are instrumental behaviors and that a bounded rational choice approach can account for both behaviors. However, while some of the causes of harm-doing and deviance (and violent and nonviolent crime) are the same, some are different. Theories of crime and deviance cannot explain why one only observes individual and group differences in violent crime and theories of aggression and violence cannot explain why one observes differences in all types of crimes. Such theories are 'barking up the wrong tree'." (author's abstract)

This edited volume includes chapters, written by experts in the field, dealing with the social-scientific study of the causes, patterns, and consequences of violent crime and homicide in the contemporary world. The themes range from domestic abuse to racial violence and killings in the United States and across the world

The urban street gang plays a central role in the imagery of violence currently being disseminated by the mass media. Testing the reality of this image requires careful empirical studies of actual gangs. A study involving 150 gangs in "Midcity," a slum district of an eastern metropolis, and focusing on seven gangs subject to intensive field observation, reveals marked differences between the public imagery and research-derived findings. While members of slum street gangs engaged in violent crime to a greater degree than middle- class adolescents, violence was not a central preoccupation of the gangs, and most "violent" crimes were of the less serious variety. Cruel or sadistic violence was rare; violence was seldom "senseless" or irrational. Property damage was rela tively uncommon. Participation in violent crimes had little to do with race, but was directly related to sex, age, and social status; most active were males of lower social status during late adolescence. The control of gang violence is seen to in volve techniques for altering motivations similar to those which undergird national wars.

After 2 years of research and development, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in conjunction with the Ontario Provincial Police, introduced the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS). This computerized system allows trained specialists to link crimes such as serial homicide and serial sexual assaults. Examines the evolution and development of ViCLAS and its contribution to criminal investigation. (Original abstract - amended)

Illustrates the problem of state violence, identifies its different forms, & describes the connections between state crime & traditional violent crimes. Of the three levels of violence defined, the state is directly involved in structural & institutional violence & indirectly involved in personal violence. Structural violence & state terrorism are linked to crimes of interpersonal violence through common social conditions, eg, economic marginality, mass social deprivation, community breakdown, & the US culture of militarism. L. Nguyen