Understanding School Victimization: Influences of Neighborhood and School Contexts

• In Event: Understanding Larger Systems While Theorizing School Violence

Abstract

School victimization is a concerning phenomenon due, in part, to the immediate and long-term damages to school achievement, mental health, and employment incurred by victims. While scholars have found that neighborhood environment can affect school victimization, it remains less clear whether schools have potentially protective characteristics that could mitigate the impact of perceived neighborhood crime on school victimization. Previous studies have noted the ability of a school environment to exert influence on school victimization, but less work has examined how school factors may protect against neighborhood influence. We use the National Crime Victimization Study School Crime Supplement (NCVS SCS) from 2015-2019 to test the effects of perceptions of neighborhood crime and school environment on school victimization. This study finds that perceived neighborhood crime increases the odds of school victimization, but that including the positive school factors (perceptions of respect and fairness) reduce this effect on victimization. Student perceptions of formal control (e.g., metal detectors, school guards) are associated with increased risk of school victimization. These conclusions help to further understanding as to how the risk of school victimization could potentially be addressed and reduced. We discuss the policy implications for fostering a positive school environment to reduce school victimization.

Authors

• Leslie Pierce, Pennsylvania State University

• Camille Figueroa, Pennsylvania State University