clipped from: www.eurekalert.org   

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A study of young, violent criminals in New York City found that they used fear and intimidation to keep adults from interfering with their criminal activities.

Almost 40 percent of the young offenders interviewed said that adults' fear of teens was the defining characteristic of their relations.

As a result, in many situations, adults ignored criminal activity by teens and young adults, findings showed.

These results suggest that one of the usual prescriptions for ending youth violence – more informal social control by neighborhood adults – may not be realistic in some violent neighborhoods.

“Adults look at the age of the youth involved, whether the offender is from the neighborhood, the severity of the crime, the likelihood of retaliation, and whether there is some kind of personal relationship,”

“It's not as easy as saying adults should be more involved in the lives of the adolescents in their neighborhood. There's a lot of factors adults have to consider.”