NCJ Number
74728
Journal
IRCD Bulletin Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1979) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1979
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The role that American schools themselves play in producing, aggravating, or reducing school crime is examined, along with techniques that schools can use to control or prevent internal disorder.
Abstract
American schools in the past decade have been portrayed by the media as plagued by crime and disruption. Although acts of violence and property destruction did increase from the early sixties to the seventies, the National Institute of Education's Safe School Study found that crime and vandalism had leveled off or decreased after 1971. Other results of this research indicated that crime was more prevalent in junior highs and in schools with disproportionate racial and ethnic balances. Large, overcrowded schools were vulnerable to violence and disruptions, particularly in areas outside the classroom. In these schools, teachers cannot individually know students, and many adolescents are never integrated into the school's program and activities. According to data from the Safe School Study and other research, very apprehensive students were often characterized by victimizations, residence in a high crime area, enrollment in junior high, and punitive parental control. Victims of school crime exhibited similar profiles and were likely to avoid school, do poor academic work, and have behavior problems. Schools have not developed effective techniques to handle this troublesome group of victims and offenders, but have relied on suspensions and transfers. School disorders disrupt learning and can thus have a lasting effect on youth and the community. Responsibility for control has always rested heavily on the school, but recent court rulings have challenged many disciplinary measures. The major factor in determining the level of crime and disruption appears to be school governance, whose principal components are commitment to academic excellence, structure of order, and development of school spirit. The principal is a key element in establishing and maintaining order, but good relations among the teachers, students, and principal are also necessary. In successful schools, teachers' job satisfaction was high, and explicit school rules were firmly and fairly enforced. Today, only 8 percent of all elementary and secondary schools are seriously affected by disorders, while crime and delinquency rates in the community continue to rise. Prevention programs which emphasize people have been more successful than large numbers of security personnel. Early identification and treatment of that small group of youngsters who seem to be most frequently associated with school violence are also important. Footnotes and 22 references are included.