Weapon-Related Victimization in Selected Inner-City High School Samples

• NCJ Number: 185560
• Author(s): Joseph F. Sheley Ph.D.; Zina T. McGee Ph.D.; James D. Wright Ph.D.
• Date Published: January 1995
• Length: 2 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Series: NIJ Update
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: See NCJ-151526 for the report summary of this study.

Annotation

Findings from this study were derived from responses to surveys completed by 1,591 students (758 males and 833 females) in 10 inner-city public high schools in California, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Illinois.

Abstract

Schools selected for the study were identified by local school board officials as inner city schools that had experienced firearm incidents in the recent past and whose students likely encountered gun-related violence as victims, perpetrators, or bystanders out of school. The average respondent was 16 years of age and had reached the 10th grade; 75 percent of respondents were black, 16 percent were Hispanic, 2 percent were white, and 7 percent were other. Many students indicated experience with the criminal justice system; 31 percent (43 percent of males and 14 percent of females) reported having been arrested or picked up by the police at least once, and 15 percent (23 percent of males and 9 percent of females) reported having stolen something worth at least $50. Almost 25 percent of students (25 percent of males and 18 percent of females) reported affiliation with a gang of some kind. Outside school, 4 in 10 reported male relatives carried guns, 1 in 3 had friends who carried guns, and 1 in 4 considered guns easy to get in their neighborhoods. Inside school, two-thirds personally knew someone who carried a weapon to school, 1 in 4 reported carrying weapons while in school, two-thirds knew someone who had been shot or assaulted, and one-third said there was a lot of violence in schools. Twenty percent of students (30 percent of males and 16 percent of females) said they had been assault victims, and more than half experienced multiple victimizations. Factors such as risky behaviors and occupation in a dangerous environment were identified as potentially linked to weapon-related victimization. Victimization did not differ significantly across racial and ethnic lines, age categories, or grade levels. Only gender seemed to influence victimization levels, with males significantly more likely to have experienced a weapon-related assault. Implications of the findings for violence prevention on school grounds are discussed.