Defining School Violence Victim Subtypes: A Step Toward Adapting Prevention and Intervention Programs to Match Student Needs (From Violence in American Schools: A Practical Guide for Counselors, P 67-87, 2000, Daya Singh Sandhu and Cheryl Blalock Aspy, eds. -- See NCJ-185486)

• NCJ Number: 185490
• Author(s): Michael J. Furlong; Bonita Sharma; Sujin Sabrina Rhee
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: American Counseling Assoc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Collected Work
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Information is presented about the negative developmental outcomes known to be associated with exposure to violence and to violence victimization, and the authors argue that the effects of school violence victimization can be compounded due to the special and intimate relationships students have with peers, teachers, administrators, and mental health professionals.

Abstract

Schools are places where individuals expected to be safe. When this expectation is violated, it has the potential to undermine basic feelings of interpersonal trust and to disrupt the learning process. For this reason, educators should be aware of types and patterns of victimization that occur in schools. Counselors and other mental health professionals are well-positioned to support school efforts to prevent victimization and to minimize the impact of violence when it occurs. Some victims of violence experience violation and exploitation and respond to victimization by drawing on available resources and resilience to cope with it. Another response may be that victims withdraw and experience diminished self-esteem and social self-efficacy. Yet others may react by seeking to "level the score" and by taking revenge or retribution. To explore school violence victim subtypes, responses of 9,723 students to the California School Climate and Safety Survey were examined. Data were obtained from elementary through high school students during the 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 school years. The victimization index used in the study was derived from items that asked students whether they had personally experienced any of 21 types of violence victimization at school during the previous 30 days. Victimization clusters included nonvictims, low victimization, moderate verbal threats, sexual victimization, moderate weapon exposure and verbal threats, high verbal and physical threats, high verbal and physical threats and sexual harassment, and pervasive victimization. Results of cluster analysis indicated most students experienced some form of victimization in a typical school month. Male students were most likely to be victimized, although female students were more affected by sexual victimization. School violence prevention programs typically focused on breaking the retribution cycle at the point of violence activation rather than at the point of victimization. Implications of the findings on victimization patterns for appropriate interventions by various public and private community agencies are discussed. 32 references and 1 table