Criminology Resources to School Safety and Violence

Introduction

In 2009, Crisis Prevention Institute, the world’s premier training organization specializing in the safe management of disruptive and assaultive behavior, announced the results of a nationwide survey conducted by Zogby International which revealed that a majority of K-12 school teachers believe their classrooms are more susceptible to violence than they were five years ago. Over 55 percent of the teachers surveyed cited their schools as being more likely to experience disruptive behavior with 76 percent experiencing verbal confrontations, 65 percent experiencing school fights and 36 percent witnessing abuse of a staff member in the past year. The survey indicated that the most effective measures at combating violence in schools were support from school administration and adequate classroom staffing. According to Dr. Randy Boardman, Executive Director of Research and Development at the Crisis Prevention Institute, continued training, combined with a supportive administration and an effective student teacher ratio are fundamental to decreasing violence in schools.

Education policy leaders continue to take steps to ensure that school safety plans are adopted and implemented and that on-going training in violence prevention and intervention are key components of those plans. In addition, local law enforcement agencies have been asked to play an increasingly significant role in ensuring school safety. The United States Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) COPS has played an instrumental role in supplying more than 2,300 law enforcement agencies with over 4,900 School Resource Officers (SROs) through its well-received COPS in Schools (CIS) program which is designed to assist law enforcement agencies in hiring new additional SROs to engage in community policing in and around primary and secondary schools. These SRO’s work collaboratively with schools, faculty, staff, and local communities in order to engage in student training programs to reduce school violence and drug use, to collect and analyze data to study particular school safety problems, and develop partnerships with both parents and students.

 

Resource Section

Role of School Psychologists in Violence Prevention
This paper analyzes the findings of a national survey of school psychologists’ roles in preventing school violence.

Children’s Perceptions of Violence
This publication summarizes and analyzes the nature, extent, and impact of children’s reactions and perceptions of violence.

Who, What, Where, When, and Why: Demographic and Ecological Factors Contributing to Hostile School Climate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth
This publication explores and analyzes the specific factors creating and influencing a hostile school environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth.

How Can We Improve School Discipline?
This article summarizes and addresses key questions on improving school discipline on behalf of administrations.

Factors Related to School Violence Victimization: The Role of Extracurricular Activities
This publication analyzes the extent which extracurricular activities contribute to increased violence and victimization in schools.

A School Based Program to Prevent Adolescent Dating Violence
This document analyzes an in school-program designed to reduce and prevent dating violence among adolescents.

An Analysis of Family School Collaboration in Preventing Adolescent Violence in Urban Secondary Schools
This publication explores the influence of family and school collaboration in helping to curb violence in urban high schools.

Understanding and Preventing Violence against Teachers
This paper presents information, trends, and statistics on identifying the causes of violence against teachers as what measures can be taken to prevent such violence.

Addressing School Violence
The Federal Bureau of Investigation provides a comprehensive guide to understanding the underlying factors of school violence as well as preventive measures.

Prepared for School Violence
This publication explores and provides an analysis of school counselors’ perceptions of preparedness for responding to acts of school violence.

Addressing the Gendered Dimensions of Harassment and Bullying
This publication explores harassment, violence, and school bullying in the context of gender.

A Multilevel Investigation of the Association between School Context and Adolescent Nonphysical Bullying
This publication offers information and analysis on the relationship between the school environment and nonphysical bullying.

Coping with School Violence through the Lens of the Teachers’ Role Breadth
This article explores the impact of school violence through the teachers’ perspective.

The Columbine Shootings and the Discourse of Fear
This article suggests that elements of Columbine were combined with terrorism as part of a control narrative that helped to anchor terrorism to schools in communities throughout the United States and increased more fear, security measures, and surveillance.

Prior Knowledge of Potential School Based Violence
Initiated in 1999, the study termed the Safe School Initiative (SSI) examined several issues, most notably whether past school-based attacks were planned and what could be done to prevent future attacks; its findings were that what students learn may prevent a future attack.

The Perceptions of Cross Cultural Student Violence in an Urban Setting
This publication explores a variety of perceptions on the underlying factors of student violence in urban school environments.

Differences in Pupil Characteristics and Motives in Being a Victim, Perpetrator, and Witness of Violence in Secondary Education
This publication explores the underlying differences in becoming a victim, an instigator, or a witness to acts of school violence.

Too Scared to Learn? The Academic Consequences of Feeling Unsafe at School
This paper explores the mechanisms through which feeling unsafe in the classroom may impact test scores and multiple robustness checks strengthen the validity of the causal claim.

Student Homicidal Violence in Schools: An International Problem
This paper presents information on domestic and international school violence.

Brutalizing Kids: Painful Lesson in the Pedagogy of School Violence
This revealing publication offers narratives and commentary on understanding the factors contributing to school violence.

Early Response to School Violence-This publication presents a qualitative analysis of students’ and parents’ immediate reactions to the shootings at Columbine High.

How Effective are School Bullying Intervention Programs? This article explores the efficacy of school bullying intervention programs.

Crime, Violence, Discipline and Safety in U.S. Public Schools-This comprehensive guide provides summary and analysis of a survey conducted in 2007-2008.

Violence Prevention in Schools-This resource contains a case study of the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School.

Guns, Gangs, and the Underclass-This publication contains an analysis of guns and violence at Toronto High School.

 

 

Additional Resources

National School Safety Center
The National School Safety Center serves as an advocate for safe, secure and peaceful schools worldwide and as a catalyst for the prevention of school crime and violence.

School Safety: National Crime Prevention Council
This resource provides information on recent trends in school violence as well as materials on school violence prevention.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Safe Youth. Safe Schools
This resource provides statistics on school violence as well as additional materials on school violence prevention.

 

STRYVE-Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere is an organization lead by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which takes a public health approach to curbing violence before it starts.