This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0042085907311791v1 43/3/301    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chen, G. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Communities, Students, Schools, and School Crime

A Confirmatory Study of Crime in U.S. High Schools

City University of New York

This study investigates how community characteristics, student background, school climate, and zero-tolerance policies interact to affect school crime. The study articulates and fits a school crime model to 712 high schools participating in the 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety, confirming that school location and student socioeconomic status have moderate effects on school crime. Much of the contextual effects are mediated via school climate. School climate reflected by school size, student mobility, and student misbehavior affect school safety in profound and predicted ways. Larger size and schools with higher student transience and misbehavior predict higher levels of criminal incidents. School security program is correlated with lower school crime; however, the effect is small and nonsignificant. Tough on crime policy is associated with higher level of school crime, controlling for community and school variables. Consequently, a positive school climate in combination with necessary security control is recommended to improve school safety and reduce school crimes.

Key Words: school crime • school climate • school culture • school structure • security programs • punitive measures • structural equation model

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?