Perceptions of School Violence as a Problem and Reports of Violent Events: A National Survey of School Social Workers

• NCJ Number: 171447
• Journal: Social Work Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1997) Pages: 55-68
• Author(s): R A Astor; W J Behre; K A Fravil; J M Wallace
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This national school violence survey explores social workers' assessment of violence as a problem in their schools.

Abstract

The survey asked social workers who had reported a potentially lethal event in their schools within the previous year how they would rate the seriousness of the problem in their schools. The survey also attempted to determine what variables would be associated with the perception of a serious violence problem in a school. School social workers did not perceive violence as a serious problem on the basis of a single event even when the event was life-threatening. From a zero-tolerance perspective, school violence as a problem was underestimated in all communities but more often in suburban and rural settings than in inner-city or urban settings. The social workers' perception of a serious problem was contingent on the presence of multiple types of violence and the community setting of the school. The article advocates a zero-tolerance perspective and asserts that knowledge of any form of physical assault or potentially lethal violence should be sufficient to determine that a school has a big problem. Tables, figures, references