The recent data on violence among youth have drawn the attention of both the public and the scientific community. In 1989, for example, homicide was the second leading cause of death among persons between 15 and 24 years of age. In that same year, close to 5%, or an estimated 4.6 million households nationwide, had a member who had experienced one or more violent crimes (US. Department of Justice, 1991b).Data suggest that the incidence and prevalence of violence differ across social and cultural groups in the United States. In particular, violent crime victimization and perpetration rates have consistently revealed differing patterns of violence associated with each of the dominant ethnic minority groups in the United States (Roper, 1991; see also chapters 4-7 of this book). This is perhaps most clear when considering statistics on violence among youth in these groups. Rather than being the second leading cause of death among 15to 24-year-olds, for example, homicide is the number one cause of death among African American youkh (Fingerhut, Ingram, & Feldman, 1992). And, for US. Latino and Native American youth, data show that victimization rates for crimes of violence are higher than those for White non-Latinos (US. Department of Justice, 1991a). (For additional demographic and epidemiological data on violence involving members of ethnic minority groups, see chapters 4-7 in this book.)Researchers have questioned just what it is about racial and ethnic differences in the United States that seems to be associated with varying rates of violence (D. Hawkins, 1990). One important answer has been found by looking a t risk factors for violence and a t population demographics. The data indicate that social risk factors such as unemployment, high population density, poverty, and drug abuse, among others, are associated with being both victims and perpetrators of violent crimes (Sampson, 1993). At the same time, population demographics indicate that these risk factors are overrepresented among members of ethnic minority groups and may, in part, account for the 59