The intention of adolescents to carry a knife or a gun: a study of low-income African-American adolescents

Author: Lane MA / Cunningham SD / Ellen JM
Publication: J Adolesc Health
Topics: Age Group Ethnicity Gender Gun Carrying
Keywords: African-American Gun carrying Victimization delinquency knife carrying
Bibliographic information +

The authors examined the motivation for African-American adolescents to carry a knife or a gun (specifically the roles of fear of victimization and prior history of delinquency), using a household-based sample of urban African-American adolescents (130 female and 93 males) aged 13–19 years old residing in a low-income neighborhood in this cross-sectional study. They found that 27% of the males and 35% of the females reported an intention to carry a knife, whereas 25% of the males and 9% of the females reported gun carrying intent. History of delinquency was associated with both knife and gun carrying intent. Fear of victimization was associated with the intention to carry a gun, but not a knife.