Monitoring School Violence

Abstract

National monitoring of school violence is essential for needs assessments, policymaking, and evaluation at the national level. As informative and important as national monitoring is, the data generated at the national level is often not useful at the district or school site levels. There is therefore a need for a feasible method of monitoring school violence on the district and school level; furthermore, we need to find ways to effectively apply national-level information to schools and school districts. over time should be the foundation for the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions in this area. In this article, we propose an expanded concept of monitoring that links comparable data on school violence at the grade, school site, district, and national levels. The paper presents our conceptual framework and methodology and illustrates its implementation in a district in Israel. We present examples of reports generated to monitor school violence for the district as a whole and for each of the school sites. Finally, we conclude that this is a feasible and useful model that social services could adopt to monitor practice in many other areas.     

School Violence Prevention

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to describe the level of violence in three high schools and to test the effects of universal and targeted strategies to reduce this violence.

Design:A repeated measures design with two baseline scores and two intervention scores was used during a two year period. Two rural high schools served as control schools with a single intervention high school.

Participants: All freshmen at the three high schools completed a self-report measure of school violence; 420 completed the study at the end of their sophomore year.

Method: Multiple universal and targeted interventions to prevent school violence were used for slightly more than one year. Scores on student Victimization and Perpetration, gathered one year apart, were compared using a pre-test post-test model.

Findings: Student reports of perpetration at the intervention school were significantly lower than the combined scores at the control school. Students, teachers, and administrators reported improved awareness, knowledge, and skills to implement violence prevention programs.

Conclusions: A comprehensive program that includes university and high school partnerships has the capability to reduce school violence during a short period. Despite limitations to the study, continued use of research partnerships to decrease school violence is war-ranted.     

Perceptions of Risk Factors for School Violence

Abstract

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, 2000) recently released a report on common background characteristics of school shooters, which also stressed the importance of evaluating the reality of threat. The present study evaluated respondents' ability to discriminate between an unrealistic and a realistic threat and between a low and high risk level based on the FBI's background profile characteristics as well as to determine attitudes about whether some intervention was necessary. Respondents completed one of four randomly distributed vignettes, which differed in a 2 × 2 design (high vs. low background risk × realistic vs. unrealistic threat). These vignettes described a student who made a threatening statement regarding a teacher. Respondents then rated the student' level of risk for violence and indicated the degree to which they would intervene. Results revealed that, in keeping with the FBI guidelines, both reality of threat and background risk characteristics significantly influenced respondents' perceived risk for violence and need to intervene. Implications for educational settings and future research are discussed.     

Evaluation of a Program Designed to Reduce Relational Aggression in Middle School Girls

Abstract

Physical and verbal aggression is an increasing problem inboth middle and high schools across the United States. While physical forms of aggression are targeted in traditional “bullying” programs, relational aggression (RA), or the use of relationships to hurt another, is often not detected or addressed. For girls in the stage of identity formation, RA can impact negatively on self-concept, peer relationships, school performance, and mental and physical health. An innovative program designed specifically to help middle school girls confront and cope with issues related to RA was developed, implemented, and evaluated in two school systems. Attitudes and self-reported behaviors were measured before and after the program. Results show an improvement in relationship skills after participation in the program. Most noticeable improvements were in a girl's stated willingness to become involved when witnessing another girl being hurt and girls benefiting from the mentoring they received from high school juniors and seniors.     

Data Quality in Student Risk Behavior Surveys and Administrator Training

SUMMARY

This study examined the influence of survey validity screening on the results from three group-administered school surveys administered to samples totaling approximately 5500 students in 19 schools. The estimated levels of risk behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and victim experiences were substantially reduced when respondents who gave multiple inconsistent or extreme responses to other survey items were screened out of the data. The researchers also observed that the percentage of students giving inconsistent and illogically extreme responses was greater among those surveys given by an untrained administrator, raising the hypothesis that administrator training could be a critical factor in obtaining more consistent and trustworthy survey data. These results indicate that it may be important to train school staff in survey administration and to screen surveys for validity in order to improve the accuracy of student self-report surveys.     

A Discussion of the Incongruence Between Optimism and Academic Performance and Its Influence on School Violence

Abstract

This research suggests that incongruence between how a child views self and the aspirations pursued can lead to maladaptive externalizing behaviors in the form of activities related to school violence. As such, the purpose of this research is to examine the degree to which negative behaviors exhibited in adolescents are influenced by various degrees of optimism. This research approaches the issue of school violence with great care and because of the broad definitional issues concerning school violence and the nature of that data used in the study the researchers have chosen to reference the concept of school violence as “activities related to school violence.”     

Linking Academics and Social Learning

Abstract

This article examines how school staff conceptualize their work with youths in an alternative school for weapon policy offenders after having undergone at least one year of a whole-school violence prevention program conducted by the Syracuse University Violence Prevention Project. The article examines the intent of school staff, their ideas, perspectives, and language about youths, violence, and schooling, and provides insights into the challenges and benefits of a whole-school approach to violence prevention. Their insights highlight what is needed for a violence prevention program to be successful. A major issue raised in the article is the importance of linking social learning and academics in violence prevention strategies, and of sustaining collaborative efforts that connect conflict resolution to acts of justice and support for youths' intellectual and emotional lives.     

Written Discipline Policies Used by Administrators

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to draw on the findings of two related studies about school discipline. The first study, a national survey of school law issues, indicated that over 37% of administrators report handling discipline either frequently or daily. The results of the second study, a content analysis of 64 written codes of conduct commonly used to make discipline decisions, were that these documents were primarily punitive in nature with an emphasis on suspension and expulsion. Implications of the study are that administrators spend excessive time handling discipline issues using punitive policies. Suggestions are made for future research about discipline policies and the ways in which they are used in schools. Implications for the creation of more proactive policies will be made.     

Sexual Harassment and Bullying Behaviors in Sixth-Graders

ABSTRACT

Sexual harassment is widely viewed as a form of bullying, but has received little attention in studies of middle school students. A survey of 109 6th grade students found that 29% of students reported at least one sexual harassment experience in the past 30 days, with 11% reporting harassment once per week or more. Although boys and girls reported similar rates of harassment, there were important gender differences-boys were more likely than girls to try to ignore sexual harassment, but girls were more likely to tell someone about their experience and to tell the perpetrator to stop. There was high concordance between sexual harassment and bullying for both boys and girls. These findings indicate the need to recognize the role of sexual harassment in bullying in middle school.     

Why terrorists target children: Outbidding,desperation, and extremism in the Peshawar and Beslan school massacres

ABSTRACT

Why do terrorists engage in behavior that is extreme even by their own admission—killing children? This behavior poses a major puzzle to our understanding of terrorism, but it has been surprisingly underexplored. This article addresses the question of why terrorists intentionally target children with a comparative study of the two deadliest attacks in which children were deliberately targeted by a militant organization: the Peshawar (2014) and Beslan (2004) school massacres. The article identifies two factors that increase the likelihood that a terrorist group will target children. The first is the presence of internal rifts within an already highly violent organization. This is likely to trigger outbidding and, thus, result in more brutal attacks. The second is existentially threatening external pressure, which seriously weakens the group and, thus, leads it to select soft and shocking targets, such as schools. The findings are based on evidence drawn from primary and secondary sources, including interviews conducted in Peshawar and Islamabad, Pakistan, and Moscow, Russia.