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Weapons and Violence Among Male Delinquents: An International Comparative Study
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
Abstract
Despite growing concerns about youth violence, little research has been conducted in countries other than the USA specifically about the prevalence and actual use of weapons to threaten or harm others. This study employed the same questionnaire and methods to recruit 888 male delinquent youth in Toronto, Montreal, Philadelphia and Amsterdam. Two contrasting perspectives on the importance of firearms restriction in preventing youth violence - futility and availability - guide the discussion. Specifically, detained and dropout youth appear to have quite ready access to firearms, regardless of national gun control laws. On logistic regression analysis, the strongest independent predictors of four weapon related violent outcomes were site, prior delinquency and victimization; notably for gun violence, selling cocaine/crack, history of gang fights and living in neighbourhoods where drug selling was conspicuous, were significant. The high levels of gun involvement and weapons related violence among Toronto and Montreal youth were unexpected. The Canadian youth justice system may be selecting more serious delinquents for incarceration than those in the USA and the Netherlands. These results may also be a harbinger of greater gun availability, or reflect greater willingness of delinquent youth to arm themselves, than in the past. Since baseline data about firearms carrying, acquisition and use have not been collected previously in Canada, it will be important to monitor these trends.
Sommaire
Une recherche comparative internationale a permis de recourir à des méthodes identiques pour recruter 888 jeunes hommes délinquants à Toronto, Montréal, Philadelphie et Amsterdam et de leur administrer un même questionnaire à propos de la délinquance violente avec armes, quelle que soit la législation nationale sur l’accès aux armes à feu.
Resumen
Una investigación comparada de carácter internacional ha permitido recurrir a métodos idénticos para reclutar a 888 jóvenes hombres delincuentes en Toronto, Montreal, Filadelfia y Amsterdam y de administrarles un mismo cuestionario sobre la delincuencia violenta con armas, con independencia de la legislación nacional sobre el acceso a las armas de fuego.
Information
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2006 International Society for Criminology
Footnotes
(*)
Brochu, Charles Freeman, Deborah Harrington, Rosalyn Sutherland, and Fu Sun.
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