NCJ Number
110922
Date Published
1987
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Thirty Australian school principals responded to a questionnaire that solicited their responses on whether or not they would contact the police for variations of three crime scenarios involving theft, assault, and vandalism on school property.
Abstract
The respondents represented all Australian States except one and administered government, private, and church schools; single-sex and coeducational schools; and metropolitan and rural schools. Both male and female principals responded. In the theft incident, the locker of a student suspected of stealing is opened and found to contain a number of purses belonging to students and two members of the staff. In the assault scenario, a student assaults a teacher, causing a head laceration that requires stitches. In the vandalism incident, one classroom is severely vandalized with water and paint sprayed around the room and and on books and papers. The principals were most likely to call police for the vandalism offense, a little less likely to call them for the assault, and less likely still to report the theft to the police. A 1981 study by the American Association of School Administrators indicates that school administrators are reluctant to notify police of crime on school premises because of the bad publicity or liability, the minor nature of the offenses, a preference for managing their own discipline and security, and the sense that the school loses control of the incident once the police are notified. 3 references.