This report was published by the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

The Roots of Youth Violence report is the product of an extensive literature review and public consultation. It goes beyond merely identifying the immediate risk factors associated with youth violence to examine the underlying conditions that lead to youth violence. The report found that multiple and overlapping processes of exclusion negatively shape the development of some youth in Ontario. Young Black or Aboriginal males who come from disadvantaged, complex-needs communities facing the prospect of little opportunity for change are most at risk of involvement in violent crime. The report calls for moving away from pathologizing these youth to working toward changing the conditions that contribute to the creation of a risk profile.

Volume 4 uses both official and unofficial crime statistics to address the following six research questions:

1. How prevalent is violent behaviour in Ontario?
2. What proportion of violent crime in Ontario involves young people?
3. Is Ontario more or less violent than other Canadian provinces?
4. Are Ontario cities more or less violent than cities located in other Canadian provinces?
5. Does Ontario have more or less violence than the United States and other foreign countries?
6. Has violent offending in Ontario increased or decreased over the past 40 years?

The report begins with a discussion of how social scientists measure violent crime, followed by a review of official police statistics on violent crime before turning to estimates derived from both victimization and self-report surveys. The report concludes by highlighting several disturbing trends with respect to youth violence in Ontario.