The intention of adolescents to carry a knife or a gun: a study of low-income African-American adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether African-American inner-city adolescents are independently motivated by a fear of victimization or by delinquency to carry a knife or gun.


METHODS
A household sample of 130 female and 93 male African-American adolescents, aged 13-19 years old, were queried about their fear of victimization, history of delinquency, and intention to carry a knife or a gun in the next 3 months.


RESULTS
A high intention to carry a knife was reported by 27% of the males and 35% of the females. A high intention to carry a gun was reported by 25% of the males and 9% of the females. The intention to carry a knife was independently associated with a history of delinquency in females (odds ratio [OR] = 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-6.2) and males (OR = 4.7; 95% CI = 1.7-13.3). It was not associated with a fear of victimization. The intention to carry a gun was independently associated with fear of victimization in females (OR = 4.5; 95% CI = 1.1-17.7) and males (OR = 3.3; 95% CI = 1.1-9.9). It was also independently associated with a history of delinquency in females (OR = 4.1; 95% CI = 1.1-16.3) and males (OR = 11.7; 95% CI = 3.1-44.7).


CONCLUSIONS
Delinquency may play a role in motivating inner-city African-American adolescents to carry a knife, whereas both delinquency and fear of victimization may influence adolescents' motivation to carry a gun.
Lane
Margo A
MA
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Cunningham
Shayna D
SD
Ellen
Jonathan M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005389:Firearms; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012495:San Francisco; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology