Student Threat Assessment as an Innovative Violence Prevention Strategy: Results From a Statewide Implementation Study

• In Event: 14.046 - Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: 14.046-6 - Contemporary Mental Health Issues Facing Students and Schools

Abstract

Virginia is the first state to mandate multidisciplinary threat assessment teams as a violence prevention strategy in its public schools. This investigation presents findings from a statewide survey of 1,865 threat assessment cases reported by 785 schools. The study reports demographics (e.g. age, gender, race) of students identified as threatening violence, nature of the threats (e.g. what was threatened, who was threatened, how threat was communicated, who reported it), and how the school team responded to the threat (e.g. threat classifications, interventions and disciplinary actions taken). Finally, the study used logistic regression to identify characteristics associated with the cases in which the student attempted to carry out the threats, as well as the characteristics associated with cases classified as serious.

Authors

• Jennifer L. Maeng, University of Virginia

• Anna Grace Burnette, University of Virginia

• Dewey G. Cornell, University of Virginia