Citation

Furlong M, Casas JM, Corral C, Chung A, Bates M. Educ. Treat. Child. 1997; 20(3): 263-280.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, West Virginia University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Two large-scale surveys of secondary school students are examined. Sample 1 included 4,179 students who responded to the California Drug Use Survey, which was modified to include questions about substance use and school violence. Sample 2 included 4,595 students who completed the California School Climate and Safety Survey, which includes items about school violence victimization and questions regarding youths' perceptions of substance use on their school campuses. The results show that both self-reported substance use and perception of frequency of substance use on campus were significantly associated with school violence. Substance use on the school campus was strongly associated with both being a victim of violence at school and being an aggressor. It is suggested that the strong association between substance use and school violence can be understood in terms of the substance abusers' participation in a social network that operates on the periphery of the school community and involves the presence of numerous risk factors. Although, there are multiple reasons why violence occurs at school, violence associated with substance use is one important pathway that should be considered in all school safety and conflict resolution programs.

Language: en