With the media focusing so much attention on cases of juvenile crime, you might think that youth today are more violent and dangerous than ever. There is no such thing as "youth violence." The levels of, and cycles in, violent crime and homicide among poorer, mostly minority young men occur because, for every race/ethnic group, poverty rates among the young are twice those of adults. Factor out poverty differences, and murder and violent crime rates are higher among adults in their 20s and 30s than among teenagers. …
