Comparing Predictors of School Violence and Community Violence: A Multilevel Analysis

• In Event: New Research on the Predictors of School Crime

Abstract

Evidence-based knowledge on the causes of school violence is of great importance to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. To date, an extensive body of empirical research has identified various individual/suspect (history of antisocial behavior, antisocial/pro-criminal attitudes), personality (impulsivity, low self-control,), and psychological (hostility, low empathy) risk factors as strong correlates of school violence. While this work has enhanced our knowledge of the broader etiology of school violence, we know less about the role of school- and community-level factors in contributing to school violence. Specifically, we have an incomplete understanding on [a] which school- and community-level factors increase (or decrease) the odds of school violence, and [b] whether said factors exert similar or different effects on incidents of school violence versus community violence. The current study aims to address these gaps by examining the following research questions. First, do various school- and community-level factors significantly predict incidents of school violence (versus community violence)? Second, do these school- and community-level factors differentially predict incidents of school violence compared to community violence? And finally, to what extent do these school- and community-level factors exert crossover effects on the opposite setting’s violence? In testing these research questions, the broader goal of this study is to help shed light on the extent to which the causes of school violence are unique from those of out-of-school violence. Implications for research and policy will be discussed.

Authors

• Jhon Pupo, Florida State University

• Sonja Siennick, Florida State University

• Jillian Turanovic, University of Colorado Boulder