We are living in an age in which there is a record national crime rate, and acts of random violence are so commonplace that violence is now considered as American as apple pie. It is an age in which one of every four households is touched by violent crime. It is an age in which, according to Kenneth Lipper (1989), “Women and children in Harlem and Bed-Stuy are shut-ins behind barred windows and locked doors, afraid of the streets and hallways that neighborhood junkies, dealers, prostitutes and pimps have captured as their own territory” (p. 28). It is an age in which we hesitate to use subways because of the increase in violent crime. It is an age in which coexistence with fear is a way of life. It is an age in which, according to 1987 federal statistics, 3,236,200 burglaries were committed, averaging one every ninety-seven seconds (Source Book of Criminal Justice, 1988). It is an age of terrorism on both a national and an international level. It is an age in which there is a desperate need for drugs that leads to violent crimes (Lipper, 1989, p. 46). In short, we are living in a violent age.