School Climate and Delinquency
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Transcript of School Climate and Delinquency
School Climate and Delinquency
Denise C. GottfredsonDepartment of Criminology and Criminal
JusticeUniversity of Maryland
April 21, 2011
This Presentation Summarize research relating school
environmental factors and delinquency
Summarize what is know about the effectiveness of interventions to alter school climate
Next steps for research and practice
What is “School Climate”
“Personality is to the individual what ‘climate’ is to the organization” (Halpin & Croft, 1963)
School-Related Individual Factors vs. School Factors Attachment/commitment to school School performance Self-control Association with deviant peers Research summarized in Gottfredson (2001)
Taxonomy of School Climate Inputs
Ecology Milieu
Social System Social organization Administration and management
Culture Peer culture Sense of community
Adapted from Tagiuri (1968)
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Social Organization Curricular offerings and organization
Specialized prevention curricula Time allocated to instruction and to
different content areas Grouping of students for instruction (e.g.,
tracking) Attention to student heterogeneity (e.g.,
extra support for low achievers)
Administration and Management Discipline management – fairness and
clarity of school rules Teacher and student shared decision-
making Decision-making/problem solving
structures Strong leadership: establishing a central
mission/clarity of goals Effective communication
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Culture Peer norms/culture Sense of community
Cooperative emphasis Positive relationships – “ethos of
caring” Consensus about norms for behavior Expectations/emphasis on academics
History of Research on School Climate and Delinquency 1970’s: Comparison of school means on
student outcomes demonstrating large variability in outcomes across schools
Early to Mid 1980’s: refined community measures, broadened school characteristics to include important aspects of social organization, school culture, and school administration
Safe School Study 1976 national sample of 642 secondary
schools Extensive data collection: Principal,
teacher, and student surveys Extensive questioning: victimization
experiences, personal characteristics, and characteristics of schools
Census data on the school communities Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 1985
Characteristics Related to Teacher Victimization Rates: Community and School Milieu Variables Input characteristics of the students
and communities in which the schools were located accounted for 54% and 43% for jr. and sr. high schools.
Controlling for these characteristics, characteristics of the schools accounted for an additional 12% and 18% of variance
School Characteristics Contributing to Higher Teacher Victimization Rates: School Administration/Management Variables
Greater use of ambiguous sanctions
Lower perceptions among students that rule enforcement is firm and clear (junior high schools)
Less teacher-administration cooperation (senior high schools)
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
School Characteristics Contributing to Higher Teacher Victimization Rates: School Culture Variables
Lower school averages on student beliefs in the conventional social rules (sr. high schools)
More punitive teacher attitudes
More democratic attitudes of teachers (jr. high schools only)
National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools Intended to describe …
level of crime and disorder
policies and practices currently being implemented to increase school safety or reduce disorder
Sampling Design Nationally representative sample
of schools stratified by location and level
Probability sample of 1287 schools
First principal survey in 1997 Second principal survey, student
and teacher surveys in 1998
Are Safe School Study Findings Replicated? To what extent is school disorder
explained by externally determined characteristics of the school and community?
To what extent are perceived fairness and clarity of rules and more positive school psycho-social climates related to school disorder?
Survey MeasuresSchool Disorder Teacher Victimization Student Victimization Student Delinquency
TeacherStudentStudent
School Climate Social Climate Organizational Focus Morale Planning Administrative Leadership Discipline Management Fairness of Rules Clarity of Rules
TeacherTeacherTeacherTeacher
StudentStudent
Measuring Exogenous Variables
Exogenous Variable Description
% Students African-American Common Core of Data% Teachers African-American Self-report from teacher questionnairePoverty & Disorganization Factor score from 1990 Census measures
(welfare, female headed household, median income, poverty, divorce rate, male and female unemployment)
Residential Crowding Factor score from 1990 Census measures(crowding, foreign household)
Student enrollment Natural log of enrollment from principal & CCDUrbanicity Factor score from 1990 Census measures
(population size, urban level, proportion living in urban areas)
% students male Self-report gender from student questionnaire
Grade level Middle/junior high (0); senior high (1)
Variance in School DisorderTotal R2 Incremental
R2
Student DelinquencyExogenous Factors only School Climate Factors added
.12
.49 .37
Student VictimizationExogenous Factors onlySchool Climate Factors added
.23
.34 .11
Teacher VictimizationExogenous Factors onlySchool Climate Factors added
.25
.55 .30
Structural Model
Structural Controls
• Percent Students male
• Concentrated Poverty/AA
• Size and Urbanicity
• Residential Crowding
• Grade Level
Social Climate
Discipline Management
Teacher Victimization
Student Delinquency
Student Victimization
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
School Size and Student Victimization
Structural Controls
• Community Concentrated Disadvantage
• Urbanicity/Mobility
• Racial/Ethnic Student Composition
• Average Student Age
Personal Victimization
Property Victimization
Student Enrollment
Student-TeacherRatio
Number of Different Students
Taught
School Size and Student Victimization
Structural Controls
• Community Concentrated Disadvantage
• Urbanicity/Mobility
• Racial/Ethnic Student Composition
• Average Student Age
Personal Victimization
Property Victimization
Student Enrollment
Student-TeacherRatio
Number of Different Students
Taught
+
--
School Culture Mediates Effect
• Structural Controls
• Community Concentrated Disadvantage
• Urbanicity/Mobility
• Racial/Ethnic Student Composition
• Average Student Age
Student/Teacher Ratio
Personal Victimization
Consensus about Norms
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Communal Social Organization (CSO)
Schools in which “…members know, care about, and support one another, have common goals and sense of shared purpose, and…actively contribute and feel personally committed” (Solomon et al., 1997)
Does CSO Influence School Disorder? Do schools with higher levels of
communal school organization have lower levels of school disorder?
If so, is the effect of communal school organization on school disorder mediated by student bonding?
Measurement Model: School Factors
Communal School
Organization
StudentBonding
Common Goals
& Norms
Supportive Relations Attachment Belief Commitment
Effects of CSO
Structural Controls
• Percent Students male
• Concentrated Poverty/AA
• Size and Urbanicity
• Residential Crowding
• Grade Level
Communal School Organization
Student Delinquency
Student Bonding
Cross-level interactions?Does CSO interact with student
bonding such that student bonding has less of an effect on delinquency in schools that are more communally organized?
CSO Influences Individual-level AssociationsThe relationship between bonding
and delinquency is influenced by CSO:Attachment and belief have less effect on delinquency in higher CSO schools
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Lessons from School ShootingsSource: National Research Council and
Institute of Medicine. (2003) Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. Case Studies of School Violence Committee. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10370#toc
Characteristics of the Communities Gulf between youth culture and
adults Shooters intensely concerned about
status and protecting themselves – they mistrusted others in the school
Adults had poor understanding of children’s experiences
Shooters felt there was “nowhere to turn”
Specific warnings given and missed
School Climate and Delinquency -- Important Dimensions Social System
Social organization (social climate, student/tchr ratio, # students taught)
School and discipline management Culture
Sense of community
Mean Effect Sizes: Individual vs. Environmental Change
All interventions OutcomeEffect Size
Mean† Min Max N‡
All individually focused interventions
Crime -0.02
-0.67 0.41 33Anti-Soc. 0.20* -0.59 1.62 58AOD 0.03* -0.44 0.54 68
All environmentally focused interventions
Crime 0.24* -0.16 0.65 12Anti-Soc. 0.14* -0.86 0.57 21AOD 0.13* -0.23 0.40 20
Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002)* p < 0.05† Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model).‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Mean Effect Size: Changing Social Organization
Environmentally focused intervention Outcome
Effect Size
Mean† Min Max N‡
Reorganization of grades or classes Crime 0.24* 0.23 0.36 2
Anti-Soc. 0.23* 0.23 0.23 2
Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002) * p < 0.05; † Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model)., ‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Mean Effect Size: Changing Administration/Management
Environmentally focused interventions Outcome
Effect Size
Mean† Min Max N‡School discipline and management interventions Crime 0.27* 0.12 0.65 5
Anti-Soc. 0.13 -0.10 0.37 6AOD 0.24* 0.15 0.33 2
Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002) * p < 0.05; † Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model)., ‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.
School Milieu
School Ecology
Community Context
Social System
School Culture
Problem Behavior
Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs
Social Organization
Admin./Management
Peer Culture Sense of Community
Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level
Mean Effect Size: Changing School Culture
Environmentally focused interventions Outcome
Effect Size
Mean† Min Max N‡
Interventions to establish norms or expectations for behavior
AOD 0.09 -0.23 0.31 12
Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002) * p < 0.05; † Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model)., ‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.
Final Recommendations – For Research Additional research needed to
experimentally test school climate interventions – especially “communal social organization”
Research needed to understand how school climate influences the effectiveness of individual-level school-based prevention efforts
Final Recommendations – For Practice Improve school climate, especially
Build stronger bonds between adults and youths
Promote consensus about norms for behavior
Enhance communication Promote fair and clear rule enforcement
Thank You!Denise C. Gottfredson
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
University of Maryland 301-405-4717 [email protected]
References Cook, Gottfredson, & Na (2010). School Crime Control and
Prevention. In Tonry, M. (ed). Crime and Justice: A Review of Research.
Gottfredson, D. C. (2001). Schools and Delinquency. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gottfredson, D. C. and DiPietro, S. M. (2011). School Size, Social Capital, and Student Victimization Sociology of Education, 84 (1), 69-89.
Gottfredson, D. C. & Gottfredson, G. D. (2002). Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39, 1, 3-35.
References, Continued Gottfredson, D. C. & Wilson, D. B. (2003). Characteristics of
Effective School-Based Substance Abuse Prevention. Prevention Science, 4, 27-38.
Gottfredson, D. C., Wilson, D. B., & Najaka, S. S. (2002). School-based crime prevention. In Sherman, L. W., Farrington, D. P., Welsh, B. C., & MacKenzie, D. L. (eds.). Evidence-Based Crime Prevention. London, UK: Routledge.
Gottfredson, G. D., & Gottfredson, D. C. (1985). Victimization in schools. New York: Plenum.
Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Czeh, E. R., Cantor, D., Crosse, S. B. and Hantman, I. (2004). Research in Brief: Toward Safe and Orderly Schools: The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.
References, Continued Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Payne, A. A., and
Gottfredson, N. C. (2005). School Climate Predictors of School Disorder: Results from the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42, (4), 412-444.
Payne, A. A., Gottfredson, D. C., and Gottfredson, G. D. (2003). Schools as Communities: The Relationship among Communal School Organization, Student Bonding, and School Disorder. Criminology, 41, 749-778.
Payne, A. A. (2008). A multilevel analysis of the relationships among communal school organization, student bonding, and delinquency. Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency, 45, 4, 429-455.
Wilson, D. B., Gottfredson, D. C., & Najaka, S. S. (2001). School-based prevention of problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 17(3), 247-272.