Urban violence among African American males: Integrating family, neighborhood, and peer perspectives

Even though rates have declined in recent years, violence is a serious problem inmanyAmerican cities. This paper reviews recent perspectives on violence among young, urbanAfricanAmericanmales. Special attention is afforded the “father absent ” hypothesis, the effect of poverty, the character of neighborhoods, the roots of self-efficacy, and peer influence, particularly the influence of street codes. The latter are argued both to regulate some situational behavior and to promote the use of violence in disputes over social status, drugs, andmoney. The authors discuss implications for policy and community development. High rates of urban violence have made identifying factors contributing to both victimization and participation in violent acts a matter of great public concern (Reiss & Roth, 1993). Af-rican American young adults—particularly males—are over-represented both as victims and as perpetrators of violent crim