The Causes Of School Violence

Discusses the controversial viewpoints regarding school violence.

Despite evidence that school violence is in decline, a string of highly publicized mass shootings in American schools has inspired a sense of panic in parents and school officials. Contributors provide insight into the possible causes of violent behavior in students and suggest potential remedies.

The Crisis of School Violence is the only interdisciplinary book about school violence. It presents a broad and in-depth approach to the key questions about why bullying continues at an unprecedentedly high rate and why rampage school shootings continue to shock the nation. Based on extensive research, The Crisis of School Violence investigates human nature and its relation to aggressive behavior, with a special focus on the culture of violence that predicates school violence (including rampage shootings) and perpetuates industries that profit from violence. Marianna King presents the considerable psychological and neuroscientific research that investigates the effects of violent entertainment media on the brain and, subsequently, on behavior, which clearly reveals a causal connection between exposure to violent electronic entertainment media--especially violent video games--and increased aggressive and violent behavior. The book also reveals a more specific connection between exposure to violent video games and rampage school shootings. Ultimately this volume is a call to action that includes recommendations for parents, teachers, decision makers, and citizens alike.

Your school must be prepared to face problems that range from name calling and bullying to extortion, rape, and homicide. Decrease the chances of tragedy and learn how to respond most effectively! This essential handbook explores the causes of school violence, presents state-of-the-art information on preventing school violence, and arms you with practical interventions to use when violent incidents occur. You’ll also learn about the best Internet sites on school violence issues. This book—prepared by the editor of the Journal of School Violence—can help you decrease the chances of tragedy. It will also show you how to respond effectively when violence does occur. Part I: Causes of School Violence focuses on the ways that connectedness and identification with academics influence school violence. This section presents a framework for creating developmental interventions as well as a chapter examining the concept of “bonding to school,” with two interesting scenarios to consider. Part II: Prevention of School Violence examines the effectiveness of interventions in use today and brings you important information on threat assessment, peer mediation, and weapons reduction. You’ll also find an insightful chapter on the value of developing empathy and good communication with youth who are gang members. Part III: Interventions in Cases of School Violence provides you with effective strategies to address the consequences of crisis events and takes an incisive look at crisis events themselves, what they are, how they progress, and what you may encounter in their aftermath. In addition, you get an invaluable inside look at crisis intervention and support services in the aftermath of the 2001 Santana High School shootings in San Diego, California. With your purchase of this essential handbook, you’ll also be kept up to date by the author’s new Internet forum—a space where scholars and practitioners from around the world come together to create new strategies for school violence prevention and intervention and develop new online and print publications that address school violence. “When I was like 11, I was hanging out. I used to go to a middle school. It was for bad people, only bad people go there. It's a school just for bad people that had gotten kicked out of school. And I had got kicked out of my school cause they found me with a gun.” The Handbook of School Violence brings together many voices—those of violent youngsters and the helpers who provide the care they need—those of students who feel no connection with their families or with their work at school—those of the professionals who strive to prevent these students from acting on their feelings of alienation in violent ways—and those of scholars who create theory and research, laying the foundation for prevention and intervention. Add this book to your collection, and you’ll benefit from the contributions of this rich chorus of voices. And through the Internet forum, the chorus can add a new voice—yours. Visit the Handbook of School Violence Web site at http://genesislight.com/hsv%20files/about.html

- Provide up-to-date knowledge about the nature of school violence, its etiology, epidemiology, and impact - Analyzes school violence through a multicultural and international perspective - The lead editor, Florence Denmark, is an internationally-recognized scholar and former APA president and a recipient of the 2004 Gold Medal Awards for Life Achievement from the American Psychological Foundation (APF)

Explores pros and cons of several issues related to school violence including; is a violent culture to blame, are schools secure enough, and are non-violence courses a solution. Text contains critical thinking components in regards to social issues and history. Describes common argumentative techniques such as; the bandwagon technique, scapegoating, and bias. Includes bibliographic notes, timeline, glossary, index, additional resources and step-by-step instructions for writing an opinion-based essay. Aligns with Common Core Language Arts Anchor Standards for Reading Informational Text and Speaking and Listening. Aligns with Common Core Language Arts Anchor Standards for Reading Informational Text and Speaking and Listening. Correlations available on publisher's website.

The statistics are appalling. Between 8% and 10% of U.S. high school students carry guns to school every day. In a typical mid-size city, 30 to 50 cases of school violence are reported daily, and half of these cases involve guns. School Violence: Assessment, Treatment, Prevention shows us the reality behind the statistics. Its distinguished contributors include leading clinicians, researchers, school counselors, and legal authorities who closely examine every aspect of this complex epidemic, challenging us to solve this multifaceted public health problem and offering concrete recommendations on how to do it. The comprehensive volume is divided into four parts: Part I, Contributing Factors, presents the multiple contributing factors, including those involved in creating violent children and violence-prone schools, the nature and context of school violence, and its biological and cultural causes. For example, although the number of violent deaths by shooting in schools remained stable through the 1990s, the number of violent acts against female students increased significantly, as did gang activity and the availability of guns in schools. Part II, Assessment and Management, details diagnostic assessment, management, and treatment of children and adolescents who have the potential for or have threatened school violence. Eyewitnesses describe the shootings and their aftermaths in Pearl, Mississippi, and Littleton, Colorado, including the extensive measures taken to decrease the traumatic effect of these incidents on the children and adolescents and their families, the educators, and the community at large. Also presented is a model for time-limited, cognitive-behavioral group therapy for those who sustain or witness violent injuries in schools -- a model that could be adapted to other settings. Part III, Legal Aspects, begins by putting us on notice that anyone aware of a potentially violent act by a youth has a legal responsibility to alert the intended victim(s) and others who could warn or protect them, offering a uniquely insightful view -- by the plaintiff attorney for the victims of school violence in Paducah, Kentucky -- of the Tarasoff case and its ramifications. Part IV, Prevention, concludes with what we can do now to help prevent school violence, detailing effective prevention measures that range from the innovative (a method that focuses on the school as a whole rather than on individuals and uses a social system and power-dynamics perspective) to the everyday (teaching tolerance and conflict resolution). Psychiatric practitioners, clinical social workers, pediatricians, art and activity therapists, school counselors and administrators, and other educators and mental health care professionals -- and concerned adults -- who want to help prevent violence in our schools and minimize its traumatic effects on children, parents, and the community at large will appreciate this lucid, in-depth treatment of what has become one of today's most disturbing issues.

Pre-service and in-service training for teachers and administrators can vary between institutions. Some formal education programs train teachers for curriculum development, leadership characteristics, lesson planning, and subject-based knowledge acquisition. However, some pre-service teacher education institutions and in-service professional development programs may not formally address the antecedents to conflict and violence within school environments. Within the United States, rates of teenage violence (ages 13-19 years) exceed other developed countries. Many manifestations of conflict and violence both exist and lead to youth substance abuse, lowered academic achievement, mental illness, suicidal ideation, and social distrust. Examining the perceptions educators have regarding school violence prevention is needed. The Origins of School Violence does just that! This book examines the cyclical nature of an overall lack of understanding regarding the causes of school violence--straight from the hearts and minds of high school educators and administrators. The absence of a formal education at the undergraduate, graduate and in-service training levels of education for teachers and administrators are akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. This lack of a formal education leads to unworkable district-forced policies, forced prevention programs that are built on quicksand, State political officials that adopt such indoctrinating programs, and workplace distrust among school-based employees and students alike. The Origins of School Violence provides firsthand testimonies from educators and administrators, as well as solutions that are simple and effective in order to prevent school-based violence.