May, David C.

About the author: David C. may is an Assistant Professor and Criminal Justice program director in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. He has published numerous articles in the areas of causes of juvenile delinquency, tolerance of nonconformist behavior, and adolescent fear of crime.

Adolescent Fear of Crime, Perceptions of Risk, and Defensive Behaviors. An Alternative Explanation of Violent Delinquency

2001 0-7734-7367-X
This volume serves as an exploratory effort to understand the causes of adolescent fear and its subsequent association with defensive and aggressive behaviors. Responses from a sample of 318 incarcerated male adolescents in a Midwestern state are used to test the ‘fear of criminal victimization’ hypothesis in an attempt to explain subsequent gang membership, weapons possession, and juvenile violent activity. The results suggest a social milieu characterized by neighborhood incivility and victimization experiences which leads male youth to engage in defensive behaviors as a response to fear. This research offers an innovative explanation of violent delinquency that might be used to guide further research in this area.