NCJ Number
211666
Date Published
2005
Length
104 pages
Annotation
This Australian study examined whether there are school-level factors that influence students' violent behavior, as well as the nature of violent altercations on school grounds.
Abstract
The study, which was conducted in New South Wales in 2002, surveyed 2,616 students in grades 8 and 9 who were recruited under a stratified randomly selected cluster sample. The survey instrument solicited information on student demographic characteristics, family background, perceptions of school rules, classroom and school climate, and details on respondent experiences of physical violence at school. The probability that a student would report physically attacking another student at or to/from school increased if the following factors were present: the student felt that he/she spent a lot of time in class copying out of textbooks or off the blackboard; felt his/her teacher spent more time controlling the class than teaching; felt that his/her fellow students were racist; and had more than 25 percent of his/her teachers with less than 5 years teaching experience. The risk of self-reported violent behavior decreased if a student felt teachers reprimanded students who made racist comments; felt that teachers would stop bullying behavior if they were aware of it; and had received a formal presentation of school rules. Individual and family factors related to violent behavior at school were being male, living with only one or neither parent, experiencing a punitive parenting style, having problems with family members in the past 6 months, often acting impulsively, and having problems with reading and/or writing. Students were less likely to report attacking another student if behavior and locations were closely monitored by parents and the mother was older than 40. Implications are drawn for reducing school-related violence. 19 tables and appended study instruments