NCJ Number
232027
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2010 Pages: 339-358
Date Published
August 2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study provides an assessment of theoretically informed correlates of crime in the school context through estimating the empirical role of racial tensions in relation to school crime.
Abstract
This article uses data on school crime and other characteristics from a study of United States public schools to contribute to our knowledge about the extent and correlates of school violence and property crime. Following a brief review of the literature, the authors describe their efforts to examine the link between racial tensions and school crime. Relying on the macro version of general strain theory (GST) developed by Agnew and racial contact/threat perspectives on school race relations, a more specific purpose for their article is to determine the extent to which school-based crime is at least a partial function of extant racial tensions in schools. Analyses of violent and property-related incidents across a weighted sample of 1,936 middle and high schools indicate that racial tensions is a significant, positive correlate of both types of school crime, net of other school climate, organizational, and demographic characteristics. They discuss these findings and describe directions for future research with these data. Tables, notes, and references (Published Abstract)