This makes sense in many ways, as the poor inner-city population faces the greatest number of risk factors, including poverty, lower IQ, crime, crowded and poorer living quarters, fatherless families... The list goes on and on. Garbarino does not make any statements about causes for the violence yet; he only points out how serious and complex a phenomenon it is.

However, he goes on to discuss how some teens don't have this resource, and they develop a Conduct Disorder. The child steals, lies frequently, is violent with other children and animals, and does not appear remorseful. The family may say he is a "terror," or "He always was bad." they may throw up their hands and make no efforts to alter the child's aggressive and reckless behavior until they become dangerous, and by then it is too late to do so. This leads to an Antisocial Personality Disorder, and indicates a probably life-long pattern of violence and harmful behavior.

When this kind of behavior starts in childhood, it is more serious and is associated with a greater potential for negative effects. Such behavior allows for a longer period of disruption in the child's life, and can prevent many healthy and normal developmental processes from occurring. In childhood, the causes for this kind of behavior stem more from parent and family issues than from peer modeling and social pressures. Thus, intervention by the family is crucial. Copied from the web.

Why do some children develop such behavior? Garbarino turns to some of the research on temperament. In one study, child "bullies" were shown to have a very low resting heart rate, and they did not seem to become "frightened" when a threat was present. It is almost as if they turn off their emotional awareness and no longer receive the emotional cues normal people do.

Besides temperament, he discusses several other factors that can lead to such behavioral problems. He notes that risk factors are cumulative, however, meaning each new factor compounds the risk of the previous one.

Attachment failures, as noted above, often lead a parent to emotionally neglect a child. This can be as simple as ignoring the children when he cries, or more severe such as ignoring the child's emotional needs for soothing, nurturance, and security. Teaching a child empathic responsiveness by picking up a child when it cries seems to be key. It involves teaching the child that "bad" feelings can be soothed, and denying or ignoring them is not the only issue. Garbarino cites studies indicating that mother's who were more responsive to their children had more obedient children.

Erik Erickson said the same when he postulated that a child's first psychological "task" in life what that of "Trust versus Mistrust," or learning that the world was a safe or a dangerous place, where people care or do not care about your needs. Children who learned early in life that people do not respond to your emotional needs had experiences that set the stage for serious behavioral problems later.

Where abuse and neglect occur, they compound this. Garbarino argues that the child learns the world is an unpredictable place, and develops a set or responses to cope. The child:

becomes hypersensitive to negative cues in the environment, which help him determine the presence of danger ignores positive social cues, since they don't indicate safety develops a repertory of aggressive behaviors that are "always ready" concludes that aggression works to get you what you want

Dehumanizing experiences of abuse and humiliation can lead to emotional numbing and disassociation, or a tendency to ignore the emotional feedback that others receive, to cut yourself off from your own emotions. Or, the child can become very aware of any potential signs that would help him predict that abuse or neglect is about to occur. The child learns to ignore positive cues, and find negative ones even when the majority of information available is positive. If negative responses are modeled and reinforced in the environment, then they are readily available to him.

Kids who shoot other kids, in many of the stories the media presents, are outsiders, kids who don't fit in. Making children feel like outsiders is also easy to accomplish. Issues like racism, poverty, lack of police protection... all come into play. He notes how kids saying things like, "911 doesn't come to my neighborhood" effect the way they view their world. Adults can not protect them, law enforcement can not protect them, and they are left to fend for themselves. They do not develop a "future orientation," or a habit of thinking about the future. Many youth don't expect to live to age 25, so thinking ahead to their future seems a waste of time they can not afford.

So, a child with limited empathy for and connection to others, with little feedback needed to tell that his anger is growing to dangerous levels, or that he is capable of acting in dangerous ways, becomes motivated to act, to show some violence to the environment in the hopes of gaining respect, power, or attention.

Garbarino talks about what Helmore (1997) calls "deadly petulance." the teen seems to react to minor slights and insults, the kind we shirk off and forget, with a murderous desire for revenge. It's as if they can not tolerate even very minor threats to their self-esteem; a small slight feels incredible to them. Why?

The Moral Circle The Moral Circle is the "us" that you mean when you refer to "us against them." This is the group of people that you include in your circle of safety as well. Garbarino says as our circle expands, we find that violence is more likely to hurt someone we care about. Our reasoning about morality covers more circumstances and covers more people. As the circle shrinks, however, it is easier to justify using violence to defend yourself and the few you care about. It comes back to a small "us" and a very large "them" from whom you must protect yourself. Garbarino gives examples of boys who acted from a young age to protect their mothers from violent boyfriends, and becoming "the man of the house" from an early age. Such pressures and reversals of child and parent give the teen a sense of powerlessness; the adults in their life can not protect them. They feel isolated and vulnerable, and must protect themselves. Powerful adults who could steer them away from violent role models are also absent, and they develop little resistance to their influence. Shame and Rage Garbarino notes that many boys who turn violent carry a deep seated sense of shame, based on their experiences of abandonment, victimization, abuse, and powerlessness. They invest considerable energy into defenses to repress and deny these emotions and memories. Minor insults to their self-esteem lead to a powerful re-awakening of these repressed feelings, and the violent response they make helps them to repress and deny them again. Impaired Moral Development Kohlberg studied children, boys in particular, and he found there were several stages of moral development. Basically, Level I entails the belief that "what feels good is good" and "if I get punished it must be wrong." Level II entails defining good and bad by others' definitions based on society's values and beliefs. Level III entails developing one's own moral code, based on an understanding of greater purposes in life, the best interests of the whole, and the limits of individual rights. Garbarino found that many of the violent boys he interviewed saw their violence as a "mistake" rather than a wrongful act or crime. He argues that such boys, because of their small moral circle and feelings of shame, have never progressed to Level II. They see their bad judgment as acting in a way that allowed them to get caught. Many talk about not allowing others to "disrespect" them and not showing "weakness" (i.e., forgiveness). They give street examples of not killing an enemy, and then having to face them and their friends when alone. When you are focused on survival, you feel few qualms about killing animals for food, predators to survive, and enemies who would kill you with the same "deadly petulance." Copied from the web. Garbarino notes they also assign more severe punishments to others than to themselves for the same transgressions. This is normal, in that most people will judge another more harshly than they do themselves. However, they still lack a

The Individual Teen

	Stimulate Empathy Teach boys to recognize and cope with their own feelings. After having a secure ability to do that, they can identify others' feelings, and the kind of "empathic feedback" that we receive that causes us to avoid some behaviors and change others even after we've begun them will be available to them as well.
	Protect Boys Protecting boys means preventing the humiliating, neglectful, abusive, and painful experiences that cause the empathic black in the first place. This goes further, however, and implies boys must be protected from violent media, provocative music lyrics, and the like.
	Stimulate Spirituality This could help boys "expand their circle" and think at a higher level of moral reasoning. It could also help foster a future orientation, where teens expect to live into adulthood and think about their future.
	Mentoring A solid mentoring relationship can help mitigate the effects of abandonment and loss, and help build a teens sense of having a meaning in life, someone who cares about them, and a potential to achieve.
	Intelligence and Self-Esteem Educating children gives them more options in life, teaches them more about the world, and can help them make more and better decisions on their own. Build authentic self-esteem for their accomplishments and hard work also helps build
	Positive Social Support Garbarino talks about one boy who joined a gang and said that they had become his family. He says the gang "family" was much better than the "real" family he had. Other children trade emotional connection and friendship for involvement in illegal activities to meet their needs.
	Androgyny Garbarino discusses how teen boys, drawing only on the "macho" stereotypes, have fewer choices available to them. If they were more androgynous, or could incorporate more traditionally "female" characteristics into the highly masculinized approach they take to the world, other options would be open to them.

The Community
Garbarino also offers ways that communities can respond to violence in youth.

	Stability Stabile living and home environments, stabile parenting figures, and stable routines help a child feel safe in the world, and that they are cared for, protected, and able to predict what will happen around them. Garbarino also makes a case for decreasing the violence on television and in the media that children are exposed to, as well as programs that get guns off the streets, out of the homes, and away from teenagers' hands. .
	Affirmation Children needs people who affirm their value and potential, who help them establish confidence and see a positive future for themselves. This comes from families, schools, and other sources to support children. It comes in one-on-one time with an adult as well as community responses to violence, crime, and gang activity. He talks about better parenting in general as well, with parents given emotionally validating responses that are also challenging, halting maltreatment and neglect, and providing nurturance and structure to a child's life. Discipline, quick but appropriate response to bad behavior, and character building play a role as well.
	Economic Equality Garbarino mentions one boy who asked when he was growing up if he was "poor or regular?" Children who see themselves as poor are more likely to feel like outsiders, devalued, shamed, and enraged. The drive for material possessions to compensate is misguided, but it also leads to more violence, gang activity, and crime to support the lifestyle the teen admires.
	A Government that Supports Human Rights Laws to decrease crime and violence, support from the government for communities to make changes, funding for school and health care... all improve the nature of our communities and the environment of children. One suggestion is a Visiting Nurse Program, which sends a nurse to at-risk pregnant mother's homes to teach them about parenting, babies' development and needs, and about ways to strengthen bonding and attachment between parent and child. Another issue Garbarino raises is that of smaller schools, better working relationships between police and mental health professionals to manage domestic problems. He also notes that a better justice system that responded to the crimes committed in more "just" and fair ways would help.
	Childhood is Childhood, Adolescence is Adolescence Garbarino talks about a "social contract" he had with his parents; he knew his place, they knew theirs, he obeyed them and they sheltered and protected him. He notes that today's youth are flooded with media images of sexuality and violence, naming the Clinton Sex Scandal as an example. They are treated as older adolescents, and given responsibilities and a voice they don't understand.

	Multi-Systemic therapy This kind of family therapy focuses on making changes to all areas of the client's life. The family must be willing to make changes to manage the adolescent's behavior, and use the school, law enforcement, church, extended family, and community resources to do so. The family works to help the teen overcome trauma, teaching them the things they did not learn before, and allowing them to experience an attachment to the family unlike their previous attachment.
	Skills Building The teen must be taught anger management and social skills. Some focus on better development of moral reasoning is also needed to help the teen see their past and themselves in a new light. This will entail the development of empathy for others to understand their own behavior and decisions. Skills building also entails reflecting on and correcting dysfunctional coping strategies that abused, traumatized, and neglected children have learned.
	Calming and Soothing Environments Garbarino advocates for a calming environment, soothing music, focus on reflection, medication, and emotional control. Part of this can also help youth find meaning in their life, and a "future orientation" to their actions today. He recommends reading autobiographies, watching movies, and discussing the lives of people who found meaning in their lives. The environment must also be under the control of fair adults who work to build a safe environment. This can help them give up the attitude that they must always be "on guard" to protect themselves. In this kind of environment, the teen can begin to deal with feelings of rage and deeper shame.
	Change Materialistic Values Garbarino found that many of the boys he worked with had highly materialistic values, and desired expensive things and money to compensate for their inner feelings of worthlessness. Until they learned to think otherwise and see value in themselves, they are strongly motivated to return to gangs and illegal activities to make the money to support this lifestyle.

Garbarino closes with 11 pages of resources for those interested, including addresses and in some cases email addresses and web sites for more information.