Moving from Them to Us - Challenges in Reframing Violence Among Youth
By Benjamin Chambers, January 05 2010
It's safe to assume that we'd all like to see youth violence reduced if not eliminated. And there's plenty of work going on in this area.
But there are some major obstacles to successfully addressing youth violence in a systemic, effective way, argue Lori Dorfman, DrPH, and Lawrence Wallack, DrPH, authors of a fascinating paper called, "Moving from Them to Us - Challenges in Reframing Violence Among Youth." [Dr. Wallack is a colleague of Dr. Laura Nissen, the national director of Reclaiming Futures.]
One of the most important obstacles: violence is almost always framed -- especially in the media -- as the responsibility of an individual. And while it's true that individual choice is part of the explanation, it's not the whole explanation. By talking about violence only in terms of individuals, we subtly suggest that there's nothing that can be done to prevent it. That makes it difficult for anti-violence advocates, who know that violence can be reduced and prevented by a broad-based focus on the environmental factors that contribute to it.
Juvenile Justice: OJJDP at 35
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) is pleased to announce its 2010 Annual National Conference, Hill Day and Member Meeting, to be held April 10-13 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown, Washington, DC.
Last summer, the 
