NCJ Number
162894
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: (1996) Pages: 207-226
Date Published
1996
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study used log-linear analysis based upon self-reported data from a 1988 national sample of high school seniors to put school crime into perspective.
Abstract
Since the classic Safe School Study in 1977 by the National Institute of Education, there has been increasing concern with safety in schools in the United States. Media coverage since the 1960's has highlighted violence and terror. The President's Task Force on Victims of Crime in 1982 also decried "intolerably high" levels of violence occurring against both teachers and students. In focusing on violence, however, the full extent and context of school crime is lost, and nothing is known about the property crimes and lesser personal crimes that occur. In addition, little attention is given to gender and race variations in school crimes. Given the Presidential concern in particular, it is instructive to examine school victimization near the end of that decade to assess the accuracy of their perceptions and policy recommendations. The current study addressed these issues. Three property and four personal, or violent, crimes are examined. Property crimes, not violent crimes, accounted for most school crime. Most students did not report experiences of these crimes in school, and of those who were victimized, most were victimized a single time. Fortunately, few encounters involved weapons. Only 5.1 percent were injured by an armed offender. In fact, threats not involving injury or weapons were the most common personal crime experienced in the school setting. The impact of gender and race varied, depending on the specific crime and the specific frequency level of victimization. Race was not a significant factor for petty theft, threats only, or injuries by an unarmed offender. Gender, on the other hand, was influential in all school crimes examined in the study. The study concludes that the investigation of school crime requires the inclusion of both property and personal crimes as well as gender and race variations within these crimes in order to portray accurately this social problem. 2 tables, 2 figures, 49 references, and an appended list of survey questions and possible response alternatives