Interdependence of School Violence with Neighborhood and Family Conditions (From Violence in American Schools: A New Perspective, P 127-155, 1998, Delbert S. Elliott, Beatrix A. Hamburg, et al., eds. -- See NCJ 185565)

• NCJ Number: 185570
• Author(s): John H. Laub; Janet L. Lauritsen
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 29 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This chapter summarizes what is known about the links between neighborhood and family characteristics and violence; the discussion aims to demonstrate how and why an analysis of family and neighborhood conditions is essential to an understanding of school violence and to examine the limitations of the common understanding of school violence.

Abstract

The analysis summarizes research findings about the relationships between neighborhood and family characteristics and violence. It integrates these findings with the literature on the study of school violence. The discussion notes that the conventional wisdom holds that school violence reflects violence in the broader social context and thus that it occurs when students and intruders import violence. Although the research reveals this conclusion to be generally true, the relationship between neighborhood crime and school violence is complex. Other factors such as school context are also important. Thus, the manner in which schools are organized and managed does have an effect on school violence. Findings indicate that a multipronged approach that includes the community, the family, and the school itself is the most promising strategy for both understanding and controlling school violence. Notes and 85 references