Module 4

Posted by Winnie Melda on March 6th, 2019

Abstract

Schools are normally depicted as a hotbed of crime and violence. When considering the attention on some of the types of crimes in school, it leads to the belief that the schools are a dangerous place for the inhabitants. Crime and delinquency happen in schools, and there have been significant studies done on the school associated violent deaths. The school-associated violent death is normally defined as suicide, homicide, or legal intervention where the fatal injury happened in the company of a functioning secondary or elementary school in the US.

School-associated violent deaths

The school associated violent deaths normally happen during the transition times which can be immediately before or after the school day or during the lunch break. Table 1.1 does show the trend of school-associated violent deaths of youths ages 5-18 in the school from 1992-1993 to 2011-2012. The table also includes data on all persons including staff, students, and other nonstudents (Morgan et al. 2015). When looking at the table, it indicates that on July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, there were 45 schools associated violent deaths in the secondary and elementary schools in the US. The total of 45 included staff, students, and nonstudent, where 26 were homicides, 14 were suicides, and 5 were legal interventions. There is also data for the youths aged 5-18 whereby during 2011-2012 school years, there were about 1199 homicides of youths and 1568 suicides of youths (Morgan et al. 2015). In this same period, there were 15 homicides and five suicides of the school-age youths in the school.  With the total of 1199 homicides for the youths aged 5-18, 15 happened in schools, which means that about 1184 happened away from school. With the total of 1568 suicides, 5 of them happened in school, while 1563 happened away from school.

Based on the data, it is indicated that the percentage of the youth homicides happening in school was less than 2% of the total number of youths homicide in the available survey of the years. In the case of suicides, the percentage of youth suicide at school was less than 1% of a total number of youth suicides. When looking at the data, it indicates that the number of schools associated violent deaths has been decreasing in the past years. In 1992-1993, there was a total of 57 school-associated deaths, and that number decreased in 2011-2012 to 45 deaths (Morgan et al. 2015). The total homicides for the youths aged 5-18 has seen a significant decrease from 2721 in 1992-1993 to 1199 in 2011-2012. However, in the case of suicide rates for the youths, the reduction has been very slow as the total suicides in the period have been 1680 in 1992-1993 to 1568 in 2011-2012 (Morgan et al. 2015). The slow decrease in the suicide rate for the youths can be attributed to various things which may include lack of good intervention programs that can help the youths to deal with issues affecting their personal lives.

Research to address the problem

The CDC’s school-associated violent death study indicate that between 1% and 2% of all the homicides happening in school-aged children, they do happen on the school ground or on the way from or do school. The homicides can also happen during the school-sponsored events. According to CDC (2016), the firearms that are used in the school-associated homicides and suicides normally come from the perpetrators home or even from relatives or friends. CDC identifies homicide as being the leading cause of death among the youths between the age of 5 and 18 (CDC, 2016). The findings presented in Table 1.1 shows the significance of preventing violence in schools and also in the communities. The school associated violent deaths does represent a small fraction of the homicides and suicides happening among the school-aged children (Finkelhor & Ormrod 2001). While the violent deaths in school happen during the transition times around the start of the school, end of school, and during the lunch break, there are certain efforts that can be put in place to help resolve the issues.

 According to Finkelhor & Ormrod (2001), reducing crowding, instituting plans to handle disputes, and increasing supervision may help in reducing the likelihood that conflicts may happen and injuries will result when the conflict occurs. Agnew & Brezina (2015) claim in most of the incidents in the school violent deaths, some signal is given before the events, and that include a threat being made. What the signal of threats before the violent deaths happen in school is an indication of the significant of investigating the relationship between the threats and also the school-related violent deaths. In an effort of reducing the incidents of homicides, it is also essential to consider the risk factors for the suicidal behavior so as to prevent the self-directed and the interpersonal school-associated violence (Swan & Bates 2014).

Core value

The University core value of respect claims that we value all the unique talents of individuals, respect, dignity, and strive in fostering a commitment of excellent in work. The respect value tends to apply in ensuring that the students in school should show respect and value one another.

Reference

Agnew, R., & Brezina, T. (2015). Juvenile Delinquency: Causes and Control. New York, NY: Oxford University Press

Swan, R & Bates, A (2014) Juvenile delinquency in a diverse society. SAGE Publication

CDC (2016). School-Associated Violent Death Study. 

Robers S Zhang, A Musu-Gillette, L & Morgan, R (2015). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2014. 

Finkelhor, D & Ormrod, R (2001) Homicides of children and youth. U.S. Department of Justice 

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in research paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order from Top American Writing Services.