Risk Factors For Violent or Chronically Serious Juvenile Offense Patterns

1. A previous history of violence.
2. Delinquent peer groups, connecting with anti-social groups, and/or gangs.
3. Poverty and social inequity.
4. High-crime neighborhoods.
5. Prejudice and discrimination.
6. Poor school performance (academically, socially, or behaviorally).
7. Weak family attachments resulting in abandonment, alienation, and/or poor interpersonal bonding.
8. Physical abuse and neglect promoting trauma syndromes that persist into adulthood.
9. Family violence, including harsh and continual punishment.
10. A lack of consistent discipline, which promotes rebellion, and a lack of boundaries.
11. Living in an environment where violence is a preferred means of intervention.
12. Deficits such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a learning disability, or a behavioral disability.
13. Fearless, impulsive behaviors from childhood through adolescence.
14. Access to firearms.
15. Access to or dependency on illicit drugs or alcohol.
16. Continual exposure to violence through the mass media or cultural means.