NCJ Number
140207
Date Published
Unknown
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Previous studies show that the school's educational function is complicated by the increasing prevalence of disruption, crime, and fear of violence; the current survey of Minnesota school principals examines the extent of and responses to school crime and cooperation between school and juvenile justice officials.
Abstract
Self-administered survey forms were mailed to 250 principals of junior and senior public high schools, and 107 completed forms were returned for a response rate of 43 percent. Mailing the surveys in May 1992 permitted an assessment of school disruption and delinquency during the last month of the school year. The survey instrument focused on the extent and nature of crime in the school and in the neighborhood around the school, whether crime and disruption incidents were reported to the principal or also to the police, and principal and teacher responses to these incidents. Most schools were relatively free of vandalism, personal attacks, and theft. Less safe areas included locker rooms, gymnasiums, restrooms, and outside on the school grounds and parking lots. Many school principals were very concerned about school crime and believed that courts placed too many due process restrictions on them. Principals insisted on the right to know about the delinquency background and status of students in their schools and welcomed the presence of juvenile officers to supervise students on probation. The severity of response by principals and teachers to criminal incidents varied according to incident seriousness. 18 references and 7 tables