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Dr. Pedro Noguera is a professor of education at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also past president of the Berkeley School Board. His in depth analysis of the causes of and assessment of succesful programs for reducing and preventing youth violence is published here by In Motion Magazine as a series of hyper-linked articles which can be downloaded in segments. All sections can be reached from the intro page, or readers can follow from one section to another.
Among academicians and researchers, the study of youth violence has been dominated by criminologists who have focused their efforts on trying to explain the causes of violent juvenile crime and devise strategies for reducing its occurrence. Psychologists and more recently, epidemiologists and other researchers in public health, have also taken on the study of youth violence. All three disciplinary approaches have yielded important insights on aspects of youth violence, but none has found what can definitively be regarded as the cause(s) of this phenomenon; nor have they provided an adequate explanation for its seemingly random nature. As is true for most problem-oriented research in the behavioral sciences, the search for cause has generally been viewed as critical to the development of solutions and remedies. Past experience has shown that failure to accurately locate the cause of a social problem often leads to treatment of its symptoms and, consequently, an inability to find lasting solutions.
Among criminologists, research on youth violence has been dominated by ongoing debates over the effectiveness of strategies employed by the justice system to respond to the problem. As might be expected, there is continued controversy over whether increasing the rate of incarceration actually lowers the rate of violent juvenile crime. *28 The role and effectiveness of prisons as deterrents to violent crime, and their potential for serving as sites of rehabilitation and retraining, also features prominently in the research.*29 Much of this work has generated important information relevant to the study of youth violence; however, little of this research has actually contributed to the development of long-term solutions to the problem.
In recent years, research related to the development of interventions and possible solutions has come from psychology and social welfare. In these fields, the effort to identify the cause of youth violence has focused on a set of variables conceived of as "risk factors" that are associated with violent behavior. These factors include the influence of social and cultural forces emanating from the neighborhood/community, school, peers, and family, as well as characteristics that are particular to the individual-- namely, intelligence, personality traits, and physical and mental health.*30 This line of inquiry has also focused attention on correlations between violent behavior and biological factors, such as hormonal imbalances, head injuries and possible genetic linkages to aggression. *31 In addition to the risk factors, protective factors have also been identified to try to explain why two individuals who are similar in most ways might exhibit different behavior. In short, the approach taken in psychology is to attempt to explain violent behavior through an understanding of the way in which it is produced through the interaction of individuals and the social environment. *32
Following a strategy that has proven effective with the study of communicable diseases, public health researchers-- in particular epidemiologists-- have also taken on the search for the cause(s) of youth violence. Resources have been directed at studying patterns of violence and victimization among populations exhibiting the greatest risk of vulnerability. *33 Drawing on a conceptual framework that has been used by public health researchers in the study of disease, these scholars have attempted to identify and analyze the interaction between host, agent, and environment in the study of youth violence. Through review and analysis of demographic data, epidemiologists have been able to identify not only what types of people are most at risk, but also the locations and even the time at which violence is most likely to occur.*34 Such an analysis has proven to be extremely helpful for targeting interventions at specific populations and groups. Moreover, by treating youth violence as a public health issue, these researchers are helping to broaden the search for solutions away from an exclusive focus on law enforcement, towards the identification of alternative strategies. 
As a result of these research efforts, we now know much more about juvenile violence. We know what kinds of individuals and groups are most likely to be victims and perpetrators; we know that familial dysfunction, child abuse, community disorder, racial discrimination, poverty, and the availability of guns greatly contribute to the persistence of this problem; and we know that increasing the incarceration rate for violent juvenile offenders has not yet reduced the incidence of youth violence. Nevertheless, although numerous studies have been commissioned in the public and private sectors, and several scholarly associations have directed research and resources at efforts to promote violence prevention, these endeavors have not yet yielded effective solutions. For all we know about the nature of youth violence, we still understand very little about its causes. Consequently, while policymakers continue with their efforts to build more prisons and incarcerate more young people, researchers continue searching for answers, unable to reach consensus on a strategy for effective prevention of the problem.
