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By Alan Mozes
NEW YORK, Mar 16 (Reuters Health) - Thumbing their nose at federal laws, a full 25% of American teenage boys say they have at one time or another carried or used a handgun. But researchers say a few key factors-- fear of arrest, fear of hurting themselves or others, and respect for opinions of others--can keep teens away from firearms.
"The decision to acquire or carry a gun is a complex one...(and) things that dampened the adolescents' desires to acquire or carry a gun were much more important obstacles to gun involvement than were supply-side factors," according to Dr. Lorraine H. Freed, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Freed and her colleagues conducted interviews with 45 males aged 14 to 18 who were incarcerated in a short- or long-term residential juvenile justice facility in Maryland. The investigators report their findings in the March issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
About 67% of the study participants were black and 22% were white, and over 70% were experienced with handling a gun. Most had been convicted for drug possession, robbery or assault.
Freed's team reports that 90% of the juveniles indicated that on at least one crime-related occasion they chose not to carry a gun. The investigators found that certain considerations played a role in restraining these boys from acquiring or carrying a gun, whether or not the juveniles had any prior gun experience.
Although some juveniles said that a lack of a good gun source and high prices impeded their ability to get a firearm, other factors appeared to play a greater role in their decision. The reasons included a fear of being arrested and imprisoned if caught with a gun; respect for friends and relatives--primarily females--who did not approve of firearms; fear of hurting themselves or others--particularly younger siblings; and a perceived lack of need--either because they felt they were at low risk of violence or a friend was carrying one.
Freed and her team further noted that almost one third of the adolescents reported feeling conflicted about gun-carrying, feeling simultaneously "safe and in danger" while they had the gun. The study authors suggest that by focusing on the psychological sources of such conflict, social workers and police might be able to develop better ways to prevent gun-carrying by teens.
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2001;155:335-341.
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