Factors associated with school psychologists' perceptions of campus violence

✍ Scribed by Michael Furlong; Leslie Babinski; Scott Poland; Jessica Muñoz; Sharon Boles

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 830 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0033-3085
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6807(199601)33:1<28::aid-pits4>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

Recent concern about school violence has increased demands on school psychologists to respond to safety concerns on their school campuses. In this study, 123 school psychologists responded to a survey about their perceptions, experiences, and readiness to meaningfully address school violence. School psychologists reported that they do not worry about their personal safety at school (78%). but most felt unprepared to deal with school violence (73%) and had received no specialized training in this area (85%). A principal components analysis of the types of violence school psychologists perceived to occur on their campuses identified a range of incidents from bullying to antisocial behavior. School psychologists working in inner-city schools were more likely to believe that their schools had high levels of violence (45.6%) compared with those working in urban-not inner-city (14.3%), suburban (4.9%), or rural (0%) schools. Recommendations to prepare school psychologists to help prevent, reduce, and respond to campus violence are discussed.