Youth Perspectives on Violence and Injustice

This introduction presents the theoretical, methodological, and practical rationale for “Youth perspectives on violence and injustice,” a special issue of the Journal of Social Issues. Our approach to youth violence research raises questions about what counts as normative youth behavior and broadens the nature of inquiry so that understandings and goals of young people, especially those from discriminated groups, contribute to re-defining the problem and its analysis. We also underscore how the articles in this issue illuminate youth perspectives via novel theoretical and methodological tools. After presenting the organizing themes of social justice and development: youth perspectives through history, culture, and community, youth confronting public institutions, and youth transformations through relationships, we preview themes in the integrative summary. Questioning “Violence” and “Youth”