An Analysis of the Effect of Communal School Organization on Violence

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

School crime and violence is a concern of communities across the United States. In efforts to reduce the number of violent and criminal incidents occurring on school grounds, many schools have increased the use of security measures, such as metal detectors, cameras, security guards, and police School Resource Officers (SROs). However, the empirical evidence is mixed as to the effectiveness of these techniques on reducing violence in schools. A reason for these inconclusive findings could be that these security measures fail to produce a “communal school organization” for which fosters an environment that is conducive to learning and safety. Utilizing the School Survey on Crime and Safety, this research extends the literature by including measures of community and parental level involvement. It is predicted that schools with greater levels of community and parental involvement will increase the “communal school organization”, which will then reduce the number of incidents.

Authors

• Eric Lesneskie, Bloomsburg University

• Brian T. Smith, University of New Haven