Schools and Delinquency

1. Schools and Delinquency A critical social institution

2. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency • Quiz 2—True or False? • Delinquents are more likely to perform poorly in school. • Delinquents like their schools as much as other students. • Good schools, with more resources and better learning environments, have lower rates of delinquency. • Kids involved in school spree killings are typically viewed by other kids as hyper-masculine. • Drugs and alcohol are usually involved in random school shootings.

3. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Schools Segregate Students by Race, Sex, Class, and Academic Achievement Level • Neighborhood Schooling • Tracking • Protecting Gender Differences

4. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency NEA Reports: Minorities 10% of Teachers 40% of Students Male 21% of Teachers 50% of Students Salary $43,262 avg. in 2001 $42,409 med. Household in 2002 ($57,683 annualized) Reflecting the characteristics of teachers and administrators, as well as mainstream society, the school context favors Middle- to Upper-class, White, more Educated persons. Arguably, schools also favor feminine behavioral styles.

5. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency The School Context: • Quiet • Conformity • Routine • Submissiveness • Obedience • More Cognitive, Less Physical • Low Stimulation • Good Manners It is therefore better to be white, female, wealthier and from better educated families.

6. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Social Disadvantages are replicated in the ways teachers and schools “toss aside” the students who are not in favored categories. They get: • Less Qualified Teachers • More Crowded Classes • Fewer and Lower-quality Resources • Interact more with Troublemakers • Vocational Skills more than Thinking Skills • Less Encouragement for Success

7. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Isolated into subgroups, students learn values appropriate to their groups. The more delinquency in the subgroup, the more the individual is influenced toward delinquency. Schools reflect the society that “attends” them. Neighborhoods with extreme disadvantage have disadvantaged schools. High-crime neighborhoods have high-crime schools. High-crime schools typically have substantially less money spent on them. In high-crime schools, however, money spent on social control is money not spent on education and solving social problems. These schools get a “double whammy!”

8. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Some points and questions to consider: • Which students will have conforming attachments to school personnel? • Whose values will students learn in the upper classes? In the lower classes? In the worse schools? • If schools do not speak to the experiences of certain students, why become interested? Why try to succeed in their context? • Academic failure can be labeled as social failure, breeding self-concept changes. • Will our society criminalize school failure?

9. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency How could an educator recognize a potential delinquent? (or a District Attorney for that matter?) Agnew lists the associations on pages 254 & 255. • Academic failure • Lack of school involvement • Lower attachment to school • Lack of attachment to and respect for teachers • Lower educational and occupational goals • Dropping out of School • Misbehavior in school (Keep in mind that school is a central context during childhood. If you have problems there, you have PROBLEMS!)

10. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Why is school failure related to delinquency? • Problems in school can change your social structure (classes and peer groups). You may be forced to interact more with more delinquent kids. • Kids with pre-existing delinquency will not learn well in the normal school context. • If they can’t relate, they can’t motivate!

11. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Why is school failure related to delinquency? • If they can’t relate, they can’t motivate! • Kids who do not learn well and are not involved in special education have nothing better to do but “cut up”—loosening them from the influence of conforming others. • Having to work loosens kids’ investment in school.

12. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Dropping Out • Family dysfunction increases dropping out • Poverty increases dropping out. • Reasons for dropping out: • Most: Do not like school Wanted to get a job • Fewer: Did not get along with teacher Expelled or suspended • Almost half the female dropouts: Pregnant or gave birth

13. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Dropping Out • Kids dropping out because of problems at home, financial problems, and poor grades do not increase their delinquency. • Kids getting married or who are pregnant increase violent activities (perhaps because of family conflict). • Dropping out does not necessarily make things worse. However, dropouts have higher delinquency rates. For some, dropping out might reduce delinquency because they will start working and supporting themselves.

14. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Crime in Schools • The bottom line is that schools are among the safest places to be in our society. • School violence has been sensationalized, leaving false impressions about schools. • Let’s look at some charts and graphs . . .

15. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Number of homicides and suicides of youth ages 5–19 at school and away from school:1999-2000 1 Youth ages 5 –19 from July 1,1999 to June 30,2000. Data are preliminary and subject to change.2 Youth ages 5 –19 from July 1,1999 to June 30,2000.3 Youth ages 5 –19 in the 2000 calendar year.NOTE: “At school” includes on school property, on the way to or from school, and while attending or traveling to or from a school-sponsored event.SOURCE: Data on homicides and suicides of youth ages 5 –19 at school and total school-associated violent deaths from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1992 –2002 School-Associated Violent Deaths Surveillance System, previously unpublished tabulation (August 2003); data on suicides of youth ages 5 –19 from the CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS ™)(2003), retrieved August 2003 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/; and data on homicides of youth ages 5 –19 away from school for the 1992 –93 through 2000 –01 school year from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, preliminary data (October 2003).

16. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Number of homicides and suicides of youth ages 5–19 at school: 1992–2002 1 Homicides and suicides of youth ages 5–19 at school from July 1,1992 to June 30,2002.2 Data are preliminary and subject to change.NOTE: “At school” includes on school property, on the way to or from school, and while attending or traveling to or from a school-sponsored event.SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1992–2002 School-Associated Violent Deaths Surveillance System, previously unpublished tabulation (August 2003).

17. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Percentage of students in grades 9–12 who reported having been in a physical fight during the previous 12 months, by sex: Selected years 1993–2001 NOTE: “On school property” was not defined for survey respondents. The term “anywhere” is not used in the YRBS questionnaire; rather, students are simply asked how many times in the last 12 months they had been in a physical fight.SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” (YRBS), selected years 1993–2001.

18. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Percentage of students in grades 9–12 who reported using marijuana during the previous 30 days, by sex: Selected years 1993–2001 NOTE: “On school property” was not defined for survey respondents. The term “anywhere” is not used in the YRBS questionnaire. Rather, students are simply asked how many times during the past 30 days they used marijuana.SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” (YRBS), selected years 1993–2001.

19. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Rate of nonfatal crimes against students ages 12–18 per 1,000 students, by type of crime and location: 1992–2001 NOTE: Serious violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes include serious violent crimes and simple assault. Total crimes include violent crimes and theft. “At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1992–2001. “Theft is the biggest school crime issue.”

20. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported nonfatal criminal victimization at school during the previous 6 months, by grade level: 1995, 1999, and 2001 NOTE: This figure presents the prevalence of total victimization, which is a combination of violent victimization and theft. “At school” includes in the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. (See appendix A for more information.)SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 1995, 1999, and 2001.

21. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Percentage of public schools with various types of crime and percentage of public schools that reported various types of crime to the police, by urbanicity: 1999–2000 NOTE: Violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon. Serious violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon. Other incidents include possession of a firearm or explosive device, possession of a knife or sharp object, distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, sexual harassment, or vandalism. Principals were asked to report crimes that took place in school buildings, on school grounds, and on school buses during normal school hours and at school-sponsored events or activities.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 1999–2000.

22. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Average annual rate of nonfatal crimes against teachers at school per 1,000 teachers, by type of crime and selected teacher and school characteristics: 1997–2001 NOTE: Violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Total crimes include violent crimes and theft. “At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, at the work site, or while working. For thefts, “while working” was not considered, since thefts of teachers’ property kept at school can occur when teachers are not present. The data were aggregated from 1997–2001 due to the small number of teachers in each year’s sample. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.SOURCE: U.S.Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 1997–2001.

23. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Percentage of public schools with various types of crime and percentage of public schools that reported various types of crime to the police, by enrollment: 1999–2000 NOTE: Violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon. Serious violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon. Other incidents include possession of a firearm or explosive device, possession of a knife or sharp object, distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, sexual harassment, or vandalism. Principals were asked to report crimes that took place in school buildings, on school grounds, and on school buses during normal school hours and at school-sponsored events or activities.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 1999–2000.

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26. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency What about random school shootings? Who kills? Why? “Let's go watch some gay porn so we can get our hate back" - Derrick Blank, Character on “Strangers with Candy”

27. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Kids’ Rights in Schools Courts Weigh Individual Liberties vs. Schools’ Ability to Maintain Order for Educational Purposes • Kids can be compelled to go to school. • Kids have a right to passive free speech as long as they are not disruptive to school functioning. • Active speech may be censored. • Schools may not sponsor religious speech in any educational context. • Reasonable discipline may be imposed in schools. Children may be paddled. 1) Knowledge that paddling could result from behavior must be established prior to behaviors. 2) There must be a witness. 3) The kids and parents have a right to ask for an explanation, but not a hearing.

28. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Kids’ Rights in Schools Courts Weigh Individual Liberties vs. Schools’ Ability to Maintain Order for Educational Purposes • With suspension, kids have a right to a hearing to ensure the reasonableness of suspension, but legal rights are not invoked. • Kids do not need to be advised of rights in school questioning. However, officers of the law in schools do have to advise of rights. • Student records must be kept private, but may be shared with police. • Students have no right to privacy against personal searches or locker searches if they are considered reasonable.