Written Assignment #4 CRJ 571

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Saint Leo University *

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571

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Sociology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Crime in Schools 1 Crime in Schools Kellye Diaz Saint Leo University CRJ-571: Cause and Control Juvenile Delinquency Professor Butch Newkirk

Crime in Schools 2 Abstract Concerns over violence in schools has increased rapidly. This is in part due to the highly publicized mass school shootings that have occurred like what happened at Columbine High School in 1999, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, and Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Much of the youth violence seen in the media depicts African American males that are in big cities or urban areas however a lot of violent acts committed at school are committed by caucasian males in smaller communities. Prior to many of these incidents occurring there were signs and behaviors present hinting at what the offender was planning to do. This paper is going to explore in depth those behaviors and prevention methods to put a stop to these violent events from occurring in our school system. Keywords: juvenile delinquency, school crime, juvenile justice system Introduction

Crime in Schools 3 When a parent sends their child to school they should know that their child is going to be in a safe learning environment. Schools are supposed to be a place where students and staff alike should feel safe and have a positive environment for students to be able to learn the most effec- tively. Unfortunately this is not always the case. In more recent years, crime and safety in our school systems has become a bigger concern for students, staff, and parents. The media highly publicizing mass school shootings like Columbine High School in 1999, Sandy Hook Elemen- tary School in 2012, and Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 is in part to blame for the growing concern (Gottfredson et al., 2020). In the years 1995 through 2000, there was a total of 155 homicides that occurred on school grounds of youth ages 5 to 18, this number equates to less than 2 percent of the total number of youth homicides over all (Morgan et al. (2015, p. 6-7). Most of the juvenile offenders committing this type of crime in schools have a history of aca- demic difficulties, have been a witness or victim of family violence, have a history of substance abuse, and/or have a history of violence or arrests (Kidd & Meyer, 2002). School Shootings The media has portrayed most of the violence being committed by youth being done by African-American males in bigger cities or urban areas. This has given those people that live in smaller communities a false sense of security that it won’t happen where they live. In a study from Kidd and Meyer (2002), they reviewed offenses that occurred between January 1996 and April 1999 in a rural or small town community and only included cases where multiple student fatalities occurred. They reviewed six different cases that involved eight offenders and found that most of the offenders were caucasian with atleast six of the eight having displayed behaviors that were questionable before committing their crimes. This included making threats, showing an in- terest in violent media, having suicidal thoughts, a history of violent behavior, feelings of being

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Crime in Schools 4 rejected by their peers, and violent writings. In most of the cases studied, the offender had also recently experienced some type of loss. A couple had broke up with their girlfriends, in one case the parents were getting divorced, another had been rejected from the military, and one had been suspended from school. Despite all of the warning signs, most of the offenders were without the emotional support of their parents and some were left to care for themselves at a young age. The lack of parental presence in their lives was found to be directly connected with their violent be- havior (Kidd & Meyer, 2002). When a school shooting occurs they are typically highly publicized in the media however these events are rare and are not something that occur on a frequent basis. The United States has the highest rate of firearms deaths and though the number of shootings in schools have increased since the 1960s, school shootings typically only take place 0-3 times per year. In the 5 year pe- riod of 1995-2000, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The shooting at Columbine High School resulted in 13 fatalities and 21 injuries. This school shooting was one of three of the highest-fatality ex- amples of “rampage shootings” that has occurred in the United States. It was the deadliest school shooting up until the Sandy Hook shooting took place many years later (Shultz et al., 2013). School Shooting Prevention Methods There have been many initiatives that have taken place to help prevent school shootings and homicides from occurring. One initiative that took place following the 1999 Columbine High School shooting was the Safe School Initiative in collaboration by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education. Much of the focus of this initiative was in identifying behav- iors and examining the thinking and planning of those that had carried out these shootings. The goal was to be able to better identify pre-attack behaviors to help prevent further shootings from

Crime in Schools 5 taking place. This initiative targeted its studies to cases where a current student or recent former student attacked someone at school with lethal means (meaning they used a gun or knife) and, where the students school was chosen for the point of attack. As with prior research, this study found that most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failure, they were bullied or hurt by others and had feelings of being rejected, and many had suicidal thoughts or had attempted suicide and behaviors prior to the incident occurring indicated there was a need for help. This study also found that in most cases other people knew about and were aware of the attackers idea or plan (Vossekuil et al., 2013). The finding of this study suggested that using a threat assessment approach could help to prevent some of these attacks from occurring.The threat assessment will look at the student’s be- havior and not focus on if they look like others that have committed violent acts at school in the past. This information can then be used by school officials in collaboration with local law en- forcement agencies to to determine whether a student might be moving toward a school-based at- tack. Teachers and school administrators can also help by making sure the students are comfort- able enough in their school environment to tell an adult if they hear that someone is planning to commit a violent act at school and cause harm to someone else or to themselves. Some states have also developed legislature that makes it easier for them to share student information with law enforcement agencies and others who are trying to determine whether a student might be at risk for committing a school-based attack (Vossekuil et al., 2013). Creating an environment where students feel comfortable enough to say something if they hear or see something that is out of the normal can be effective to prevent some of these violent acts from occurring. Saint Leo Core Value of Respect

Crime in Schools 6 Respect means valuing everyones differences and the unique talents that they possess. Each individual person has something special about them that makes them who they are and provides value to society (Mission, Values, and Identity | Saint Leo University, n.d.). This is something that is especially important in a school environment so as to not make anyone feel as though they are rejected by their peers for their differences. Students in school may get feelings of rejection due to their race, low academic performance, social class, gender, etc (Agnew & Brezina, 2022, p. 298). These feelings of rejection can lead to delinquent behaviors in and out of school. In turn, this can also lead to them being labeled as a delinquent or trouble maker and cause further delinquent behaviors. These students deserve to be treated respectfully for their differences instead of feeling rejected because they are different then others. They also deserve to have adults in their life whether it is their parents, teachers, or other school staff to listen to how they are feeling and provide them the support that they need in order to help them and allow them to embrace their uniqueness and talents. Conclusion Schools are a place where students, staff, and parents should not need to worry about safety and should be able to experience a positive learning environment. Unfortunately this is not always the case and though they are rare, shootings in schools do happen. In the years 1995- 2000, 155 fatalities of youth aged 5-18 occurred on school campuses throughout the United States. One of those being the deadliest that occurred in 1999 at Columbine High School in Lit- tleton, Colorado. Most of the offenders committing this type of crime have characteristics that in- clude having a history of academic difficulties, having been a witness or victim of family vio- lence, having a history of substance abuse, and/or a history of violence or arrests. There were also warning signs prior to these violent acts being committed like making threats, showing an

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Crime in Schools 7 interest in violent media, having suicidal thoughts, a history of violent behavior, feelings of be- ing rejected by their peers, and violent writings. A lot of times the media will portray violent acts being committed by African American juvenile males in urban areas or big cities however re- search has shown that most of the violent crimes being committed on school campuses are com- mitted by caucasian males and do occur in smaller, rural communities. In 1999, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education developed an initiative called the Safe School Ini- tiative to help prevent these attacks from occurring. This initiative focused on the behaviors that had occurred from these attacks to help better identify those who were at risk of committing a vi- olent act at school based on these behaviors. Using this threat assessment can help school admin- istators and law enforcement determine if a juvenile is at risk of committing a violent act at school and allow them to intervene before it happens to prevent further tragedies like we have seen at Columbine High School in 1999, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, and Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. References Agnew, R., & Brezina, T. (2017). Juvenile Delinquency: Causes and Control. Oxford University Press, USA Gottfredson, D. C., Crosse, S., Tang, Z., Bauer, E. L., Harmon, M. A., Hagen, C. A., & Greene, A. D. (2020). Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime. Criminology & Public Policy , 19 (3), 905–940. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12512

Crime in Schools 8 Kidd, S. T., & Meyer, C. H. (2002). A Comparison of Fatal School Shootings in Rural Communities. Psychiatry and Psychology Commons , 5 (1). https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article=1002&context=sopp Morgan, R., Musu-Gillette, L., Robers, S., & Zhang, A. (2015). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2014. NCES 2015-072/NCJ 248036. National Center for Education Statistics . https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/iscs14.pdf Shultz, J. M., Cohen, A., Muschert, G. W., & De Apodaca, R. F. (2013). Fatal school shootings and the epidemiological context of firearm mortality in the United States. Disaster Health , 1 (2), 84–101. https://doi.org/10.4161/dish.26897 Vossekuil, B., Fein, R. A., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2013). The final report and findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of school attacks in the United States . https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/preventingattacksreport.pdf

Written Assignment #4 CRJ 571

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