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Relative Strengths of Predictors of Middle School Girls' Suspendable Offenses

NCJ Number
227941
Journal
Journal of School Violence Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: July-September 2009 Pages: 251-263
Author(s)
Barbara Harlow Cavanaugh
Date Published
July 2009
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relative strength of several potential predictors of school violence among middle school girls.
Abstract
Predictors identified of engagement in suspendable school behavior include: (1) observation of violence at school, suggesting girls may be learning to behave violently by observing violence in school; (2) gang involvement; and (3) a favorable attitude toward violence. The girls in the study also appeared to be making distinctions not between types of aggression but between violence used for aggression and violence used for the sake of defense. Two other intervenable social variables, prior school suspension and drug use, were more weakly associated with suspendable school offenses. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative strength of predictors of school violence among a sample of 229 girls enrolled in a middle school. References