Pathways into and out of youth crime, youth gangs and community-based approaches for preventing violence are just some of the topics to be explored at the Youth Violence: Cutting to the Core conference this week (July 20 and 21).
Hosted by Griffith University’s Violence Research and Prevention Program, the conference aims to improve understanding of the causes of youth violence and how to prevent it.
Program Director, Professor Paul Mazerolle, said few forms of violence leave a community as raw and vulnerable as violence by its young people.
“Sadly, rather than trying to prevent trouble from starting in the first place, our social and justice policies often focus on young people only when they are already in trouble and on a clear pathway to bad outcomes,’’ he said.
“Research tells us that many of these young people have been raised in homes characterised by poor or absent parenting, alcohol and substance misuse, violence, poverty and joblessness, and chronic instability.
“This conference will provide important insights into points where it may be possible to intervene in what is often an intergenerational cycle of disadvantage, violence, and crime.”
Del Elliott, Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado — Pathways into and out of violent youth crime.
Finn-Aage Esbensen, Professor of Youth Crime and Violence, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St.Louis — Youth gangs: What do we know and what can do?
Abigail Fagan, Professor of Criminology and Law, University of Florida —An effective community-based approach for preventing youth violence: the Communities that Care System.
Other topics to be discussed include:
- Social aggression;
- Violence in schools;
- Preventing the onset of youth offending;
- Adolescent dating violence;
- Youth homicide offenders;
- Gender differences, violence and alcohol consumption.
WHAT: Youth Violence: Cutting to the Core
WHEN: Monday, July 20 and Tuesday, July 21 — 8.30am-5pm
WHERE: The Royal on the Park Hotel, Brisbane.