NCJ Number
186201
Date Published
1998
Length
24 pages
Annotation
In discussing the characteristics of college students, this chapter focuses on "traditional-age" students (students 18- to 24- years-old), especially those who come to campus soon after completing high school, with a brief discussion of the "nontraditional" or older students.
Abstract
The profile of "nontraditional" students remains unclear because of their diversity, including their wide age range and the limited amount of contact they typically have with the campus as part-time students. There is concern among some that this group of students includes individuals who may have been convicted of more serious offenses than offenders among traditional-age students. The statistical profile of the "traditional" student is drawn from large data sets such as longitudinal surveys and reports of various agencies. The data show a dynamic picture of students coming to campus from school and societal settings increasingly steeped in a rising tide of crime and violence that pervades schools and neighborhoods across the Nation. The incidence of the experience of violence in society is age-related and is especially prevalent among youths of high-school and college age. Although research has not yet established a cause-and-effect relationship between the increase in violence in K-12 schools and concurrent increases in violence on college campuses, such a link can be presumed. 10 tables and 35 references