INTRODUCTION Adolescent violence is a serious issue which has gained attention nationally.

INTRODUCTION

Adolescent violence is a serious issue which has gained attention nationally. of that kind problems as gang violence, teen-on-teen homicide, aggravated sexual assault, and domestic battery involving children and adolescents have raised regard among policymakers, law enforcement officials, gymnasium administrators, and others. Despite the nation's increased interest and matter youth violence is not a fresh phenomenon. According to the 1999 "National Report upon Juvenile Offenders and Victims" produc through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) (1999) the proportion of violent and seriously violent crimes (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) committed by way of juveniles has remained relatively constant since the 1980 However, the total annual number of homicides committed by the agency of juveniles doubled between 1987 and 1994 with the majority committed by means of African American males between the ages of 15 and 17 yet the rate of juvenile homicide has since decreased, it remains at a plain that is 21% above that of the 1980 (OJJDP 1999) The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplemental Homicide Report, based forward reported homicides nationwide, indicates that 12% of all kill s committed nationwide involve at least single juvenile offender (OJJDP, 1999). Furthermore, newly come research has estimated that the average career criminal, heavy medicine abuser, and high school dropout take away froms society $3 million dollars in medical, legal, and psychological services, missing wages, and justice system charges (Cohen, M. as cited in OJJDP 1999) It is clear from these statistics that juvenile violence and delinquency remains a major moot point In addition, the United States has the highest overall rate of violence among industrialized nations, with a significant wave of violent and aggressive acts being committed during the teen years (Dusenbury, Falco, & Lake, 1997)

As a deduction a great deal of research in the past decade has focused in succession identifying trends in youth violence and risk behaviors in order to gain a better understanding of the magnitude of the question and develop strategies for intervention and prevention. For example, in 1990 the Center for Disease rule and Prevention (CDC) developed the Youth Risk Behavior scrutinize (YRBS), a self-report inventory designed to track risk behaviors of youth in grades 7 within 12 (Dorman & Pealer, 1999) This self-report questionnaire consists of 75 forced-choice items administered in the regular classroom using standard Scantron answer sheets. Since its inception, the YRB has been administered each two years to a nationwide random sample of middle drill and high school students in an effort to monitor the incidence and prevalence of six categories of risk behaviors including injuries, tobacco use, alcohol and other unsalable article use, sexual behavior, dietary behaviors, and physical activity (Dorman & Pealer, 1999) In a late report based on this view 20% of students nationwide brought a weapon to exercise 38.7% had been in physical fights, 531% engaged in sex 32% reported heavy drinking, 71% tried tobacco, 424% reported marijuana use, and 7% indicated use of cocaine in a certain quantity of form (Stevens & Griffin, 2001) In 1997 the National Crime Victimization overlook a self-report questionnaire administered to a random sample of adolescents above the age of 12 indicated that adolescents were involved in 25% of serious violent victimizations annually, including rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault (OJJDP 1999) Despite increasing interest in assessing the magnitude of adolescent involvement in violence-related crime and delinquency and monitoring changes in these activities, les attention has been focused in succession prevention efforts through early identification of adolescents in the general population who are at risk for involvement in violence. Early identification of adolescents at risk for violence is emergencyed so that clinicians, educators, parents, and others can channel resources to assist adolescents in coping with challenges in their lives before they become involved in serious offenses

The meaning of the present study is to examine the utility of a screening instrument and assessment scale (The Life Challenges Questionnaire-Teen Form--LCQ-TF and The Risk Assessment Index-RAI) in identifying young nation at risk for violence at administering the instrument to a sample of adolescents in a juvenile detention population and a sample of adolescents attending a private high educate The specific objective is to compare the couple groups of adolescents--students in a high gymnasium and a detention setting--in order to identify challenges faced during adolescence and to provide initial validation data for a scale to specifically assess risk for violence among adolescents.

The Life Challenges Questionnaire-Teen Form (LCQ-TF) is a 120-item, self-report inventory unfolded by licensed clinical psychologists at the Center for Applied Psychology and Forensic Studies, a human services corporation in Chicago, Illinois. The LCQ-TF was designed with the specific plan of providing a practical toot to help clinicians, educators, and parents identify children and adolescents who are coping poorly with the challenges of their lives and are at risk for involvement in violent behavior. The questionnaire was expanded based on previous research establishing risk factors that powerfully correlate with youth violence and aggression. Each item asks respondent about important aspects of their life, including family building parental relationships, sibling and lord relationships, neighborhood environmental context, academic performance, sect connectedness, life conflicts, gang memberships, substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, trauma, and other factors. While all items cogitate known correlates of youth violence, there are 53 critical items scattered over the questionnaire. The Risk Assessment Index (RAI) is based forward these 53 critical items place to be most strongly correlated with youth violence. These items relate to the principally strongly correlated predictors of youth violence based in succession previous research. These items include questions about gang membership, attachment to and perceptions of caregivers, relationships among family members, the nearness of violence or discord in the fireside personal attitudes about aggression and violence, seminary connectedness and involvement, quality of the exercise environment, substance abuse in the dwelling and among peers, self-esteem and self-perceptions, companion involvement and connectedness, involvement in recreational activities, modern loss or trauma, and any history of physical or sexual abuse. Additionally, these items assess for any psychological or emotional difficulties, suicidal or homicidal notions and engagement in antisocial behaviors in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as fighting, assault, harming animals, and the use of or access to weapons.