VIOLENCE IS . . .
In the Community: when murder, rape, assault and intimidation invade our schools and streets.
Twenty-three percent of the high-school seniors and dropouts in a recent study reported taking at least one of the following actions in the preceding year: attacking someone with intention to hurt or kill, carrying a hidden weapon, using strong-arm methods for extortion or robbery, or participating in gang fights. If hitting or threatening to hit someone is added to the list, the percentage engaging in some kind of violent action goes up to 54. And 20 percent reported multiple and persistent violence--that is, at least three instances of violence of more than one type.
Rand Corp. — http://www.rand.org
Some Things You Should Know: Community Violence
The violence in the streets of our cities is ample evidence that something has gone terribly wrong. Murders, rapes, robberies and other violent crimes make our neighborhoods, our schools and our communities dangerous places and leave most of us recoiling in fear and pessimism, uncertain that things could ever change. Though the law enforcement community reports that violent crime is down from previous levels (U.S. Department of Justice: Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance.htm#serious) there remains the tough problem of violence in the inner cities across this country and the matrix of issues like poverty, joblessness, unacceptable school drop-out rates, domestic abuse and other social inequities associated with race, ethnicity, class and gender.
After nearly a decade in which violent crime rates fell or were stable throughout the U.S.A., the FBI recently reported that there was a 2.5% rise last year in violent crimes, which include homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. (FBI Says Violent Crimes in U.S. is Falling, Associated Press, September 16, 2008).
Our concerns about violence goes beyond the streets and into the community: violence in schools, on the playgrounds, between youth gangs and even violence that transpires between law enforcement and the community. We are about finding ways to operate on violence at the preventive end, extending concern backed up with programs and initiatives that work to prevent violence and create a healthier and more whole community.
In 2007, the FBI estimated that 14,209,365 arrests occurred nationwide for all offenses (except traffic violations), of which 597,447 were for violent crimes and 1,610,088 were for property crimes. Arrests of juveniles (under 18 years of age) for murder rose 2.8 percent in 2007 when compared with 2006 arrest data.
— FBI, 2007, Crimes in the United States
SEE RED NOW in Action — Click Here.
You Can Make A Difference.
If you would like to help prevent violence please contact us.
A Few Things You Can Do About Community Violence
- Learn conflict resolution skills and teach them to others, especially to children.
- Educate yourself about the prevalence of violence in your community, its causes, what's at stake and how you can get involved.
- Support legislation that extends support and helpful resources to the victims of violence and violent crimes.
- Know that risk factors that are there for children prone to violence.
- Listen to young people when they talk about violence at school and do something about it.
- Because of the link between poverty and violence, support living wage legislation that insures that working people can earn enough to survive on and that jobs are created for all those who want to work.
- Because of the link between drug and alcohol abuse and violence, support drug and alcohol treatment, write your local, state and national legislators to express your concern about treatment opportunities and costs.
- Join us at the first annual SeeRedNow Community Conference to be held on the University of Louisville Campus. For more information and to be added to the mailing list contact us here.
