The development of youth violence: An old story with new data

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Résumé (français)

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Résumé (anglais)

Youth violence is a major public concern in all modern societies. To prevent this violence, we need to understand how innocent young children grow into violent adolescents. Longitudinal studies of large samples of children from infancy to adulthood indicate that the peak age for physical aggression is between the end of the second and the end of the fourth year after birth. Fortunately, because of their size, physical aggression from two-year-olds does not constitute a major threat to the public in general. It is also providential that most children learn to control these physically dangerous and socially disruptive behaviours before they reach their maximum size. This natural course of development suggests that the preschool years are the best window of opportunity to prevent the development of cases of chronic physical aggression. Safe streets probably start with quality early education.