STUDY OF SCHOOL VANDALISM - CAUSES AND PREVENTION MEASURES CURRENTLY FOUND IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CITIES THROUGHOUT ALABAMA

• NCJ Number: 35826
• Author(s): C P DEBUZNE
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 174 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA - DISSERTATION

Annotation

RESULTS OF A SURVEY OF ALABAMA CITY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND NATURE OF SCHOOL VANDALISM IN THESE CITIES AND TO DETERMINE PROCEDURES WHICH MAY HELP TO ALLEVIATE THE VANDALISM PROBLEM.

Abstract

THE BASIC PROCEDURES OF THIS STUDY INCLUDED: 1) A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON TYPES OF SCHOOL VANDALISM AND METHODS OF PREVENTING VANDALISM; 2) DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF A QUESTIONNAIRE ON SCHOOL VANDALISM TO 102 ALABAMA CITY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN THE 37 LARGEST CITY SYSTEMS IN ALABAMA; AND 3) ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES RECEIVED FROM 71 SCHOOL PRINCIPALS. THE SURVEY CONTAINED QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE PRINCIPAL, THE TEACHERS AND PUPILS IN THE SCHOOL, THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE SCHOOL, THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL, THE TYPES OF VANDALISM OCCURRING IN THE SCHOOL, AND THE TYPES OF PREVENTION METHODS BEING UTILIZED. THE DATA COLLECTED FROM THIS INVESTIGATION WERE PROCESSED TO OBTAIN FREQUENCIES AND PERCENTAGES OF THE TOTALS IN EACH ITEM. THE RESULTS OF THIS ANALYSIS ARE PRESENTED IN NUMEROUS DATA TABLES, WHICH ARE ACCOMPANIED BY NARRATIVE EXPLANATIONS OF THE FINDINGS. BASED ON THIS DATA, AN OUTLINE OF THE IDENTIFYING MEASURES FOR THE PREDICTION, PREVENTION, AND CONTROL OF VANDALISM WAS CONSTRUCTED. THE STUDY FOUND THAT MORE VANDALISM OCCURRED IN SCHOOLS WHICH HAD OLDER PRINCIPALS, OLDER TEACHERS, AND HIGHER SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS. VANDALISM WAS LOWER IN SCHOOLS WHICH HAD SUPPORTIVE PERSONNEL SUCH AS COUNSELORS AND AIDS, MORE STUDENT INPUT INTO STUDY PROGRAMS, ACTIVE PARENT ORGANIZATIONS, AND ATTRACTIVE APPEARANCE (REGARDLESS OF THE AGE OF THE BUILDING). NIGHT LIGHTING WAS NOT FOUND TO BE AN EFFECTIVE PREVENTIVE MEASURE, BUT USE OF GUARDS AND PLEXIGLASS WINDOWS WERE FOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE. IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY ARE DISCUSSED, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ARE PRESENTED. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE A MAP OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND ADDITIONAL DATA TABLES.