Research on school violence has grown exponentially. Although studies have identified dozens of potential root causes of school violence, three major research gaps remain. First, community violence and general delinquency are the strongest correlates of school violence, but we do not know whether school violence and other forms of offending share root causes. Second, we lack information on the factors that predict which already-delinquent youth will go on to commit school violence. And third, we do not know whether all forms of school violence (ranging from simple assault to sexual offenses, to crimes involving weapons and firearms) share the same key predictors.

This mixed-methods study will address all three gaps in the literature. The first phase of this project will feature a 10-year, statewide study of youth arrests for violence and other crimes that took place in and out of schools in Florida. Multilevel analyses will test whether over 60 factors differentially predict school violence versus community violence and non-violent school crime, or differentially predict different forms of school violence. Survival analyses will identify prospective predictors of school violence among youth who have engaged in other forms of crime. The second, qualitative phase of the project will feature 20 focus groups with key stakeholders who detect and respond to school violence (i.e., school resource officers, counselors, and administrators who oversee discipline). These data will inform the interpretation of the quantitative results, will identify the most proximal warning signs for school violence, and will inform the development of multifaceted profiles of school violence offenders.

Contacts

Research Team: Sonja E. Siennick, Ph.D., Jillian J. Turanovic, Ph.D.

Date: 2022-2024