Scott Menard is retired professor of criminal justice and criminology, most recently in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. Herbert C. Covey is retired deputy director of the Adams County, Colorado, Human Services Department.
With a deep-dive into victimization experiences for cohorts that moved into adulthood during the pandemic of youth violence of the 1980s, Menard extends thinking on factors in adolescence that undermine personal and social well-being deep into later life. With the remarkably rich National Youth Survey Family Study as a base, the research makes a convincing case for the unique and powerful role of exposure to violence in the (re)production of inequalities in American society. It is an important message, one with broad implications that helps us understand the past and warns of challenges for the future.--Ross Macmillan, University of Limerick