Firearms, Violence, and Youth in California, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Jersey, 1991

Violence committed by and against juveniles was the focus of this study. Two groups were examined: incarcerated (criminally active) juveniles and students in inner-city high schools, since these youths are popularly considered to engage in and experience violence (especially gun-related violence), to belong to urban street gangs, and to participate in the drug trafficking thought to lead to excessive gun violence. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 835 male inmates in six correctional facilities and 1,663 male and female students from ten inner-city high schools in California, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Jersey. Data collection took place during January through April of 1991. To maximize response rates, inducements of five dollars were offered to the inmates, Spanish-language versions of the questionnaire were provided to inmates who preferred them, and personal interviews were conducted with inmates whose reading skills were less than sufficient to complete the questionnaire on their own. In four schools, principals permitted the inducements to be offered to students to participate in the study. As with the inmate survey, a Spanish-language version of the questionnaire was provided to students who preferred it. The questionnaires covered roughly the same core topics for both inmates and students. Items included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, school experiences, gun ownership, gun use for several types of firearms, gun acquisition patterns, gun-carrying habits, use of other weapons, gang membership and gang activities, self-reported criminal histories, victimization patterns, drug use, alcohol use, and attitudes concerning guns, crime, and violence. In both questionnaires, the majority of the items covered firearms knowledge, acquisition, and use. The remaining items in the inmate survey primarily covered criminal behavior and, secondarily, victimization histories. In the student survey, these priorities were reversed.

本研究聚焦于青少年所犯及遭受的暴力行为。研究分为两组：服刑（犯罪活跃）的青少年及城市内城区高中的学生，鉴于这些青少年普遍被认为卷入并经历暴力（尤其是与枪支相关的暴力），属于城市街头帮派，并参与被认为会导致过度枪支暴力的毒品交易。835名男性囚犯在六个矫正设施中完成了自填问卷，以及来自加利福尼亚、伊利诺伊、路易斯安那和新泽西十个城市内城区高中的1,663名男性和女性学生。数据收集发生在1991年1月至4月期间。为最大化响应率，囚犯们获得了五美元的激励，为偏好西班牙语版本的囚犯提供了问卷的西班牙语版本，并对于阅读能力不足，无法独立完成问卷的囚犯进行了个人访谈。在四所学校中，校长允许对学生提供激励以参与研究。与囚犯调查类似，为偏好西班牙语版本的学生提供了问卷的西班牙语版本。问卷涵盖了囚犯和学生两组大致相同的核心主题。内容包括社会人口学特征、学校经历、枪支拥有、多种类型枪支的使用、枪支获取模式、携带枪支习惯、其他武器使用、帮派成员和帮派活动、自报犯罪历史、受害模式、毒品使用、酒精使用，以及对枪支、犯罪和暴力的态度。在两组问卷中，大部分项目涉及枪支知识、获取和使用。囚犯调查中的剩余项目主要涉及犯罪行为，其次是受害历史。在学生调查中，这些优先级被颠倒。