Youth violence is a significant problem in many American communities, particularly inner city communities, which have a disproportionately high African American population. Homicide is the leading cause of death among young African American men age 15 to 34 with rates six to seven times that of whites (Griffith & Bell 1989). Furthermore the amount of near lethal violence is many times that of the homicide rate. Violence is not equally distributed across all neighborhoods, but occurs disproportionately in inner city neighborhoods, among the young, and in public places (Bell & Jenkins, 1993). Violence is not a uniquely racial problem since the excess mortality is accounted for by social factors such as poverty and unemployment (Rosenberg et al., 1992; Runyan & Gerken, 1989). Nevertheless, violence and its consequences remain a major public health problem for the African American community (Griffith & Bell, 1989; Rosenberg et al., 1992).