Youth Violence Myths and Realities: A Tale of Three Cities

Media Influence

Three times as many people — 76% of adults surveyed — say that they get their information about crime from the media rather than personal experience.

Public Perception

Most adults in the United States — 71% — believed crime increased across the country from 2006 to 2007; 51% believed crime in their local area was higher than the previous year.

Fighting Crime

Most adults surveyed — 65% — believed the best way to reduce crime was tackling social problems; 71% of 18 to 29 year-olds favored this approach. Whites were more likely to favor increasing police (34%) versus non-whites (14%).

Reducing Youth Crime

The majority of adults surveyed believed providing more education, job training and prevention services were more effective ways to reduce juvenile crime than stiffer penalties.