SCHOOL DISORDER: THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL, INSTITUTIONAL, AND COMMUNITY FACTORS*

Drawing upon control theory, school climate theory, and social disorganization theory, this study examined the relative influence of individual, institutional, and community factors on misconduct in Philadelphia middle schools. Using U.S. census data, school district data, police department data, and school climate survey data obtained from the administration of the Effective School Battery to 7, 583 students in 11 middle schools, we examined the following predictors of student misconduct: community poverty and residential stability; community crime; school size; student perceptions of school climate (school attachment); and individual student characteristics (e.g., age, race, sex, school involvement and effort, belief in rules, positive peer associations). “Community” was conceptualized in two ways: “local” (the census tract around the school), and “imported” (aggregated measures from the census tracts where students actually lived). We used hierarchical linear modeling techniques (HLM) to examine between- and within-school factors. Individual-level factors accounted for 16% of the explained variance; school and community-level factors (both local and imported) added only small increments (an additional 4.1–4.5%). We conclude that simplistic assumptions that “bad” communities typically produce “bad” children or “bad” schools are unwarranted.

[1]  David P. Farrington,et al.  SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY AND A COMBINED DELINQUENCY SERIOUSNESS SCALE BASED ON BOYS, MOTHERS, AND TEACHERS: CONCURRENT AND PREDICTIVE VALIDITY FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND CAUCASIANS* , 1996 .

[2]  D. Farrington.  Self-Reports of Deviant Behavior: Predictive and Stable , 1973 .

[3]  A. Biderman,et al.  Understanding Crime Incidence Statistics , 1991 .

[4]  H. Goldstein,et al.  Efficient Analysis of Mixed Hierarchical and Cross-Classified Random Structures Using a Multilevel Model , 1994 .

[5]  G. D. Gottfredson.  PEER GROUP INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR: A SELECTIVE REVIEW AND A NEW EVALUATION* , 1987 .

[6]  D. Elliott,et al.  The Effects of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Adolescent Development , 1996 .

[7]  Ted Chiricos,et al.  Perceived risk and social control: Do sanctions really deter? , 1983 .

[8]  Robert J. Rubel.  Analysis and Critique of HEW's , 1978 .

[9]  Patricia H. Jenkins,et al.  School Delinquency and the School Social Bond , 1997 .

[10]  Stephen A. Cernkovich,et al.  School Bonding, Race, and Delinquency , 1992 .

[11]  A. Liska,et al.  Ties to Conventional Institutions and Delinquency: Estimating Reciprocal Effects. , 1985 .

[12]  Ralph B. Taylor,et al.  Ecological assessments of community disorder: Their relationship to fear of crime and theoretical implications , 1996, American journal of community psychology.

[13]  Kristine L. Anderson,et al.  The dimensionality of the social bond , 1987 .

[14]  Thomas J. Bernard.  ANGRY AGGRESSION AMONG THE “TRULY DISADVANTAGED”* , 1990 .

[15]  M. Krohn,et al.  Testing Interactional Theory: An Examination of Reciprocal Causal Relationships among Family, School, and Delinquency , 1991 .

[16]  Kenneth C. Land,et al.  MACRO‐MICRO INTEGRATION IN THE STUDY OF VICTIMIZATION: A HIERARCHICAL LOGISTIC MODEL ANALYSIS ACROSS SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOODS* , 1994 .

[17]  M. Hindelang.  Causes of Delinquency: A Partial Replication and Extension , 1973 .

[18]  Marvin D. Krohn,et al.  Social Control and Delinquent Behavior: An Examination of the Elements of the Social Bond , 1980 .

[19]  L. Cronbach,et al.  Time-limit tests: Estimating their reliability and degree of speeding , 1951, Psychometrika.

[20]  J. Slocum,et al.  Organizational Climate: Measures, Research and Contingencies , 1974 .

[21]  D. Gottfredson,et al.  Managing Adolescent Behavior A Multiyear, Multischool Study , 1993 .

[22]  Edward E. Lawler,et al.  Organizational climate: Relationship to organizational structure, process and performance , 1974 .

[23]  J. Short,et al.  THE LEVEL OF EXPLANATION PROBLEM REVISITED—THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY 1997 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS* , 1998 .

[24]  C. Anderson.  The Search for School Climate: A Review of the Research , 1982 .

[25]  Gary D. Gottfredson,et al.  Social Area Influences on Delinquency: A Multilevel Analysis , 1991 .

[26]  K. Ferraro,et al.  ASSESSING AGE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED RISK AND FEAR OF CRIME , 1989 .

[27]  Michael R. Gottfredson,et al.  Age and the Explanation of Crime , 1983, American Journal of Sociology.

[28]  S. Beaton,et al.  The Pattern of Violence in Urban Public Schools: The Influence of School and Community , 1986 .

[29]  Miles D. Harer,et al.  Age and the Distribution of Crime , 1989, American Journal of Sociology.

[30]  Delbert S. Elliott,et al.  Reassessing the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures , 1986, Journal of Quantitative Criminology.

[31]  Robert J. Bursik,et al.  SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION AND THEORIES OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS* , 1988 .

[32]  J. E. Schwartz,et al.  NEIGHBORHOOD AND DELINQUENCY: AN ASSESSMENT OF CONTEXTUAL EFFECTS* , 1986 .

[33]  S. Raudenbush,et al.  Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. , 1997, Science.

[34]  D. Gottfredson.  AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF SCHOOL-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL AND INDIVIDUAL INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR* , 1986 .

[35]  S. Hansell,et al.  Curriculum Tracking and Delinquency. , 1982 .

[36]  K. Ferraro,et al.  The Measurement of Fear of Crime , 1987 .

[37]  Kenneth C. Land,et al.  Perceived Risk versus Fear of Crime: Empirical Evidence of Conceptually Distinct Reactions in Survey Data , 1996 .