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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study by Sabatino et al. was to explore the current upsurge (in 1978) of adolescent norm-violating behavior, particularly as directed toward schools, and to suggest possible causes and the programs being used to reduce or prevent such behavior.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors conducted a non-experimental exploratory study of the topic, with reviews of the literature to identify the motivators for the problem behavior and to list the current programs being used in prevention of violence to schools.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The upsurge in adolescent crime is first established, based on statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics and the United States Office of Education (1978). The data are noted as being particularly discouraging because of the higher recidivism rate among adjudicated delinquents (85%) and the lower average age of first incarceration (below 13 years). External factors (socioeconomic, geographic, community) do not appear to be stable predictors of violence and vandalism related to schools, which suggests that internal (to the school) factors may be contributors.
From a review of the literature by the authors, there have been identified at least six major contributing motivators to school-related crime. They are: 1) Financial or property gain - often related to drug dependency 2) Pursuit of Social Causes - to deliver a message or further a cause, directed against a rule-making, imposing and enforcing institution 3) Malicious Play - in the context of a game, may be used to gain peer acceptance, or create excitement out of boredom 4) Unfulfilled Emotional Needs - when youth have little emotional involvement with others due to lack of communication skills and commitments 5) Academic Failure - reflecting a deep resentment of personal academic failure, particularly when there is a large gap between actual achievement and potential achievement; and, 6) Gang Affiliation - group behavior possibly against a rule-setting organization, where the laws of the gang supersede the rules of larger society.
The authors identified two major types of programs designed to reduce serious norm-violating behavior toward schools. The first type involve technology or architecture designed to protect the actual structure and contents of buildings, while the second type are prevention programs to reduce the behavior before it occurs by therapeutic interventions, group interaction, curriculum interventions (academic and vocational), and career education.
Programs designed to protect the actual buildings include TV cameras, radar systems, alarm systems, intercom systems, floodlights etc. They are often used to alarm the vandals rather than to capture them, and have been found to reduce drastically the costs of vandalism to districts. Architects have also been employed to design wall finishes and window substitutes which are less susceptible to damage, and to design buildings with less access to roofs, etc. Also, design of buildings to be aesthetically pleasing with an open view and with high usage for community activities tends to minimalize vandalism.
Preventive programs are classified into four intervention types, based on: psychology and psychiatry, sociology and social work, curriculum, and career education. Psychological interventions which were cost-effective were based on a contingency management model or a behavioral management model. Restructuring of the social environment is based on a participatory decision-making model, with a "combined socially reinforced-target behavior procedure known as Guided Group Interaction" (p. 681). Other social interventions would include neighborhood patrols, youth patrols involving outstanding students or athletes, and programs to increase student pride in the school and community. One incentive program involved a designated fund for the students to use as they wished at the end of the year, which was decreased by the cost of each incidence of vandalism. And holding parents responsible for the actions of their children, with restitution required, has been helpful in reducing vandalism.
Curriculum intervention includes designating funds for programs to emphasize positive educational alternatives for disruptive children, designing a curriculum from kindergarten that will encourage positive social behaviors. The newest intervention, career education, is "based on the assumption that norm-violation may lead to more serious offenses unless the adolescent has a socially acceptable method of earning a living and pursuing a career" (p. 684). Instructional objectives are established for each subject area in one example integrating the entire curriculum, which are social, personal, vocational, and academic.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
More research needs to be done on disruptive behavior as related to schools, since there is a definite absence of it. And there is a lack of complete data on vandalism, since most school officials do not report anonymous acts of vandalism.
EVALUATION:
Since this article was written in the 1970's, it cannot reflect the current state of vandalism in the schools. It would be interesting to know if the observations of the author have remained true into the 1990's, and what the current trends are in the area of vandalism. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - School Violence
KW - School Crime
KW - Vandalism
KW - Property Crime
KW - Student Crime
KW - Student Violence
KW - Juvenile Delinquency
KW - Juvenile Crime
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Delinquency Causes
KW - Delinquency Intervention
KW - Delinquency Prevention
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Violence Prevention
KW - Violence Intervention
KW - Crime Causes
KW - Crime Prevention
KW - Crime Intervention
KW - Literature Review
Language: en |