School Violence: Causes, Statistics, and Prevention

Introduction: Defining Antisocial Behavior and School Violence

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists began to recognize violent school behavior, but little empirical research was conducted to determine the cause of this violence or, equally important, ways to reduce or eliminate it. After 1950, studies began to be conducted that included not only descriptions of the behavior, but intervention programs as well. Researchers now use scientific study to determine and describe these disorders with increasing validity and reliability. It is hoped that similar scientific studies will continue in the future, so that more progress can be made in reaching and helping students and schools facing such problems.

Antisocial behavior refers to a wide range of activities that reflect the breaking of social rules and values, acts against others, or both. Such activities include behaviors such as lying, disobedience, truancy, running away, drug use, setting fires, vandalism, theft, and violence against other people. Some antisocial behavior is relatively common over the normal course of a child's life and is not of concern. For example, the majority of five- and six-year-olds lie or are disobedient (Henggeler, 1998, p. 4). On the other hand, when children show relatively severe antisocial behavior, it is likely to be noticed by parents, teachers, and other adults as a major difference from normal activity and may bring the child or adolescent into contact with the mental health or juvenile justice system (Henggeler, 1998, p. 4).

Although school violence is not a new occurrence, it is becoming increasingly significant in American society because of events such as the Columbine shooting. Recognizing that violence may occur in a school environment, actions must be taken to ensure the safety of all students and the staff who serve them. Over the past decade, a definition has evolved to cover this growing problem. School violence is now seen as a multifaceted problem that involves both criminal acts and aggression in educational institutions, which inhibit the learning and development of students and negatively impact the school climate. It was not until 1992 that the label "school violence" was used widely as a term to describe violent and aggressive acts on institutional campuses.

Citations in a university computer database of news reports in five major national newspapers show that before 1992, just 179 citations were listed under this keyword. From 1992 to 1998, there were about 600 articles using this term in the same newspapers. Similarly, prior to 1992, only 38 news articles had the words "school violence" in their title, compared to 118 between 1992 and October 1998 (Furlong & Morrison, 2000, p. 71).

Early interest in school violence focused on youth whose behavior was primarily a law enforcement issue. Researchers then became interested in understanding the influences contributing to the development of antisocial behavior in children. Studies also emerged among public health researchers and advocates interested in decreasing harm to youth, especially as it related to the increase of violence-related adolescent injuries and homicides during the late 1980s and early 1990s (Furlong & Morrison, 2000, p. 72).

Eventually, a school safety and crime scorecard was developed that reported the incidence of the following factors: (a) nonfatal student victimization (student reports), (b) violence and crime at schools (public school principal reports), (c) violent deaths at school, (d) nonfatal teacher victimization at school (teacher reports), and (e) school environmental conditions (Furlong & Morrison, 2000, p. 72).

Several definitions of school-related violence were very broad and difficult to apply. For instance, Berg (2000) defined school-related violence as "the use or threat of physical force with the intent of causing physical injury, damage, or intimidation of another person" (p. 18). Astor and Meyer (2001) viewed it as intentional and negligent behavior that caused physical or psychological harm and/or property damage. Furlong and Morrison (2000) further expanded the concept of school-related violence to encompass all criminal acts and aggression that may inhibit learning and harm the school's climate.

Other definitions were more precise, focusing on certain aspects of student behavior. Emphasizing a psychological perspective, Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools defined school-related violence as a "broad range of troubling behaviors and emotions shown by students — including serious aggression, physical attacks, suicide, dangerous use of drugs, and other dangerous interpersonal behaviors" (Dwyer, Osher, & Warger, 1998, p. 2).

Scope and Statistics of School-Related Crime

In order to gain a clearer picture of the present-day extent of violence in schools, it is helpful to consider the overall numbers of those being educated. The Digest of Education Statistics (Snyder, 2001) reported that approximately 25 percent of United States residents were involved in formal education as teachers, school administrators, support staff, or students in 2000. There were approximately 3.3 million teachers and 53 million students in elementary and secondary schools. The chance of any student being killed at school was one in two million, and the chance of becoming a victim of violent crime was less than 0.5 percent.

School-related crimes are decreasing (Clark, 2002), yet the numbers remain high. In 1998, 12- to 18-year-olds were the victims of 2.7 million school-related crimes, including 252,700 nonfatal serious violent crimes. Data from the National School Safety Center's School Associated Violent Deaths Report recorded 318 violent school deaths, including 55 suicides, since the start of the 1992–1993 school year. Outside-of-school juvenile arrest data mirrored these trends. However, it is difficult to arrive at a true assessment of crime due to the degree of non-reporting. The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher (Binns & Markow, 1999) found that only one-third of student victims reported violent incidents to police officers or school officials. Thirty-five percent said they would never report violent behavior regardless of their relationship to the victim or perpetrator.

Self-reports of weapons possession and bullying were considerably higher than reported incidents, even as perceptions of school-related violence were consistent with the incidence data. This finding was consistent with research concluding that there was an increase in the percentage of students who sometimes felt "too unsafe" to attend school. Self-reporting data also found that most schools are free of serious violent crime: only ten percent of schools reported one or more serious crimes to police, and 43 percent of schools reported no criminal incidents to police (Binns & Markow, 1999).

When examining statistics regarding school violence, some significant patterns emerge. First, boys are most involved in school violence and are much more likely than girls to be physically aggressive and to be victims of attacks. Second, bullying behavior is most frequent among upper-elementary-age students, while some forms of aggressive behavior — such as fighting — are higher among middle school students. Third, most studies have not found significant differences across racial and ethnic groups. Similarly, no overall difference in student violence was found between schools located in central cities, suburban areas, and non-metropolitan areas, even though crime victimization is generally higher in urban than in suburban and rural locales. Despite this, since central city areas have larger student populations, students in those areas may be exposed to a greater number of violent incidents over a given period. Fifth, the attitudes held by individual students are associated with their involvement as perpetrators of violence or as its victims (Furlong & Morrison, 2000, p. 73).

It should be noted that school violence is not unique to the United States but is a worldwide problem found in both rich and poor countries. Experts agree on one point: this violence cannot be attributed to a single cause. Instead, it is linked to a complex pattern involving family situations, socioeconomic conditions, and teaching methods.

Causes and Patterns of School Violence

A number of reasons have been proposed to explain school violence. Bender, McLauchlin, and Shubert (2001) investigated the random school shootings that occurred from October 1997 to May 1998 in Pearl, Mississippi; West Paducah, Kentucky; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; and Springfield, Oregon. Because juvenile records are sealed during ongoing investigations, the authors drew on multiple national press reports — each confirmed by more than one source — to construct a list of possible causal factors. The data revealed several conclusions of concern:

1) Although none of the perpetrators was identified as a special needs student, each demonstrated indicators of serious emotional problems to peers and showed a low regard for human life. 2) The perpetrators were largely alienated from family and friends. Each had "warned" others in advance of the violence, speaking about killing in some context. 3) Each of the perpetrators was a White male. 4) The perpetrators appeared to have average or above-average intelligence. 5) The perpetrators appeared to be deliberate in their violent actions on the day of the shootings.

Conclusion: Building Long-Term Safe School Communities

Overall, schools need long-term programs rather than quick fixes. Youth from kindergarten through high school must understand that if they want to be respected for who they are, they must extend that same respect to others. There may be differences among students, but there are many more similarities. Teachers also need to pay close attention to subtleties in their students' behavior and the clues students offer when they are no longer able to cope with the world around them.

References

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