Though such a model has been applied successfully in other research endeavors, it may be that certain aspects of the human condition cannot be explained through traditional forms of scientific inquiry, and youth violence may be such a phenomenon Violence among young people must be understood as more than just an expression of aggressive individual behavior. It must be seen as part of a larger cultural phenomenon, one that is inextricably woven into the history and social fabric of our society. Though we may be repulsed by certain forms of violence, we must acknowledge that our society glorifies and is entertained by violence. We may react strongly to child abuse or crimes against the elderly, but in our culture we honor and heap admiration upon individuals in sports or the military whose capacity for violence enables them to overcome their opponents or trounce their enemies. Violence and violent images are pervasive, infiltrating our language through metaphors and helping to define our collective sense of who we are as a people and as citizens of the most powerful nation on earth.
Violence is also a learned behavior.
It may be consciously and unconsciously reinforced by families through child-rearing practices or promoted by the media and other expressions of popular culture through subtle and blatant images. At a visceral level, many of us seek justice for violence through some other form of violence. However, even in our highly stratified and segregated communities, increasingly violence knows no limits or bounds. There is substantial evidence that violence is pervasive and not constrained by race, class, gender, or geographic location. To be sure, ours is not the only society that experiences high levels of violence, but what is uniquely American is the high rate of interpersonal violence, particularly involving young people.