IDENTIFICATION, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF HOMICIDE: FALLACIES IN RESEARCH, TREATMENT, AND POLICY-A POSTSCRIPT ON YOUTH VIOLENCE

This postscript conveys lessons learned from the 5 studies by Zagar and colleagues which examined risks for later commission of violence and homicide among abused, violent, and homicidal youth and adults. This set of studies is the first longitudinal data on risks for extreme violence from infancy to adulthood. The 5 articles following these studies consist of a developmental context for risks, historical comparisons of risks for delinquency, analyses of the costs and benefits of actuarial testing and treatment, and a general discussion of the legal issues related to application of testing and treatments. A review of the state of research on homicide acknowledges the many contributors to the literature and ideas underlying this overall work. Then, a set of 12 "fallacies" about violence that prevent or inhibit adoption of realistic, empirically sound approaches to the reduction of violence in society are addressed.