Person-Environment Fit Model of School Crime and Disruption (From Violence and Crime in the Schools, P 49-60, 1980, Keith Baker and Robert J Rubel, ed. - See NCJ-74392)

• NCJ Number: 74394
• Author(s): R A Kulka; D W Mann; D M Klingel
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): G-77-0023; G-78-0049
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A person-environment fit model of school crime is described, and its potential utility is demonstrated by drawing comparisons with traditional theories of delinquent behavior and by the interpretation of delinquency research findings in terms of the model.

Abstract

The most promising person-environment (P-E) fit model suitable for conceptualizing delinquent behavior is a quantitative schema proposed by French, Rodgers, and Cobb (1974). The basic assumption of the model is that adjustment may be conceived of as the goodness of fit between characteristics of the person and properties of that person's environment. Using this model to develop a student-school fit of school crime entails the identification of the major tasks, dilemmas, or problems of adaptation which confront adolescents in the school social environment. Three major categories of role requirements--academic, bureaucratic, and informal/social-- are particularly relevant to measuring person-environment fit in school; and dimensions relevant to the consequence of student motives and school environment characteristics are personal development, peer relationships, and system maintenance and system change (school organization and operation). Stress, engendered by poor fit to the school environment, may lead to either passive compliance, active evasion, or delinquent and rebellious behavior--including school crime. A broad range of theories emphasizing situational or social defects, psychological deficits, or conflicts between role-appropriate expectations and requirements are implicit person-environment fit theories because the etiological factors they emphasize are incongruencies between personal needs and social role demands. Support for the model's assumptions is found in studies that emphasize the relationship between delinquent behavior and poor academic achievement, student opportunity-need deficiencies studies, research on delinquent behavior and the absence of supportive relations between teachers and students, and documented informal/social ability-demand incongruencies. The concept of person-environment congruence or fit is a particularly appropriate paradigm for understanding delinquent behavior and school crime. Two figures are provided.