Reducing Violence Through the Schools (From Violence in American Schools: A New Perspective, P 188-216, 1998, Delbert S. Elliott, Beatrix A. Hamburg, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-185565)

• NCJ Number: 185572
• Author(s): J. David Hawkins; David P. Farrington; Richard F. Catalano
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 29 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter reviews research on the components basic to violence prevention through school-based efforts, with emphasis both on the importance of schools as places that concentrate children and adolescents together and on the need for collaboration among schools, parents, neighborhood residents, police, health providers, and others.

Abstract

Extensive research has established that individual and environmental factors interact to promote or inhibit violent behavior and that exposure to multiple risk factors during childhood appears to increase significantly the likelihood of later violence. Schools can have a part in violence by creating a learning community based on the social development model, although they cannot reduce community violence. Many well-designed studies have revealed that intentionally changing schools to increase opportunities and rewards for prosocial involvement can enhance student achievement and commitment to schools and can reduce delinquent and violent behavior, both within and beyond the school setting. Schools also can prevent violence by promoting norms of nonviolence, ensuring that students develop skills to live and learn nonviolently, and reducing the availability of weapons in schools. 113 references