Street Youth Violence And Victimization

Abstract

The article reviews the literature surrounding street youth violence and victimization. It examines the role backgrounds of physical and sexual victimization play in street youth[#x2019]s taking to the street and their link to violent behaviors once there. It reveals that violent home experiences educate street youth to use force to settle disputes and provide cultural rules that support violence. On the street, these rules are broadened and reinforced by poverty, the threat of victimization, violent peers, and immersion in an environment where violence is the favored method of dispute resolution. These home and street experiences also serve to increase the risk of violent victimization on the street. These youth[#x2019]s risky lifestyles, deviant subsistence strategies, deviant peers, and involvement in violence all serve to increase the likelihood of sexual and physical victimization. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.