NCJ Number
49920
Date Published
1977
Length
19 pages
Annotation
HISTORICAL TRENDS IN THE EXTENT OF DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IN SCHOOLS AND CONTEMPORARY RESPONSES TO THE PROBLEM OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE ARE DOCUMENTED. IT WAS FOUND THAT DISOBEDIENCE AND RESISTANCE TO AUTHORITY HAVE INCREASED.
Abstract
A 1949 REVIEW OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AS SEEN BY 225 HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS SHOWED THAT LYING AND DISRESPECT WERE THE MOST SERIOUS SCHOOL PROBLEMS, AND IMPERTINENCE AND RUNNING IN CORRIDORS WERE THE MOST FREQUENT. EARLIER STUDIES CONVEYED THE SAME IMPRESSION. A 1956 NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (NEA) STUDY SHOWED THAT DELINQUENCY AND VIOLENCE WERE THE MOST FREQUENTLY HIGHLIGHTED SCHOOL PROBLEMS EVEN IF SUCH BEHAVIOR WAS NOT WIDESPREAD. A GENERALIZED INCREASE IN JUVENILE CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES BEGAN IN THE LATE 1950'S, AND IN THE EARLY 1960'S THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF VIOLENCE AND DISRUPTION IN SCHOOLS BECAME MORE PUBLICIZED AS VANDALISM INCREASED. PUBLIC CONCERN OVER SCHOOL DISRUPTION INCREASED IN THE LATE 1960'S AND 1970'S. THE DISCERNMENT, HOWEVER, OF ACTUAL TRENDS IN SCHOOL DISRUPTION AND VIOLENCE WAS DIFFICULT TO ACCESS BECAUSE OF A LACK OF LONGITUDINAL STUDIES, FREQUENT RELIANCE ON ANECDOTAL AND IMPRESSIONISTIC EVIDENCE, AND A LACK OF INFORMATION CONCERING ACTUAL VICTMIZATION. REGARDING RECENT TRENDS, NEA POLLS CONDUCTED BETWEEN 1973 AND 1976 INDICATED THAT THE PERCENT OF TEACHERS ASSAULTED EACH YEAR FLUCTUATD BETWEEN 2.4 AND 3 PERCENT. A 1976 LEAA STUDY ON SCHOOL VIOLENCE CONCLUDED THAT THE AVAILABLITY OF WEAPONS, PARTICULARY FIREARMS, WAS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTOR AFFECTING GANG MEMBER VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT ALTHOUGH DISRUPTIVE AND VIOLENT CONDITIONS MAY BE AT UNACCEPTABLY HIGH LEVELS IN MANY AMERICAN SCHOOLS, NOT ALL SCHOOLS ARE AFFECTED EQUALLY, AND IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT CONDTIONS ARE BECOMING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. (DAG)