NCJ Number
193621
Journal
Journal of Security Administration Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: December 2001 Pages: 15-32
Date Published
December 2001
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study tested two alternative theories of school violence based on data collected in two rural Mississippi high schools.
Abstract
The study sought to determine whether the existence of more measures of control or the existence of less measures of control in the schools better explained the students’ experiences with school violence. The participants were 173 students in 11th grade in two rural public high schools in Mississippi during the spring of 1999. The students completed the anonymous self-administered surveys in group settings. The surveys contained 130 questions with 12 indicators. The dependent variable was experience with school violence. Results revealed that most students were not fearful of violence at school or when going to or from school. Nine percent reported fear of violence when going to or from school; 13 percent reported fear of violence at school. In addition, students reported relatively little experience with violence at school; theft was the most commonly reported form of school violence. Moreover, increases in direct controls in the schools were associated with increases in students’ experiences with school violence. Greater involvement in the community and negative relationships with teachers were also positively correlated with students’ experiences with school violence. The analysis concluded that differential oppression best explained these students’ experiences with school violence. Findings also suggested that anger may be more closely associated with the perpetration of school violence than with experiences of it. Therefore, future studies should examine the relationship between students’ anger levels and the perpetration of school violence. Table, reference notes, appended methodological information, and 35 references