The sharp escalation in youthful crime, particularly gun violence, during the 1980s and 1990s has been well documented (Cook and Laub, 1998). General consensus exists in both the public policy and the research com- munities that the dramatic growth in serious violence is largely attributa- ble to the availability of weapons, the recruitment of young people into illicit drug markets (Blumstein, 1995), and gangs (Esbensen and Huizinga, 1993). Because of this research, an inextricable nexus exists among young adults, drugs, guns, and gangs in the minds of policy makers, researchers, and the public.
Much of the national concern over drug, gun, and gang violence occurred at a time when the research community was developing research programs that articulated the value of focusing attention to a narrow group of offenders commonly referred to as “serious and chronic offend- ers” (Loeber and Farrington, 1998). The rising levels of gun violence also spawned federal and state policy initiatives aimed at reducing crime by directing prevention, intervention, and suppression at the most serious at- risk populations. Such efforts are based on the premise that serious and chronic offenders, particularly men with histories of gang involvement and gun violence, are uniquely dangerous and deserving of enhanced prosecution.
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