Scott Minerbrook

Although youth crime has always existed in some form, many argue that juveniles are performing increasingly vicious and cold-blooded acts of murder and mayhem. In the following viewpoint, Scott Minerbrook contends that child abuse, the threat of gangs and street violence, and an ineffective juvenile justice system combine to create killers without remorse or fear of punishment. Minerbrook is a writer for U.S. News & World Report and the author of Divided to the Vein, a novel describing the difficulties of growing up biracial.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How does Professor James Garbarino compare the symptoms of children in poor neighborhoods to those of war-torn lands?
2. How, according to the author, does witnessing violence affect children?
3. What does the author describe as three effects of the explosion of crack cocaine in the 1980s"

These...