A nation of great resources, the United States is confronted all too often with headlines about shootings in schools and with the unsettling reality that homicide rates for juveniles far exceed that of other industrialized nations. The challenge of reducing youth violence has prompted a flurry of commentary, legislative activity, and scholarly studiesmuch of it skewed by lurid pronouncements, alarmist sentiments, and misleading categorizations. Focusing on the role of institutions in combating youth violence, this volume seeks to reflect its complex and multidimensional character....