Citation

Schreck CJ, Miller JM. J. School Violence 2003; 2(4): 57-79.

Affiliation

Dept of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University, 419A Schroeder Hall, Campus Box 5250, Normal, IL 61790-5250

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J202v02n04_04

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

While policymakers have granted a substantial commitment of resources in order to reduce fear of crime among U.S. school students, the research literature on fear of crime at school is in its infancy. This study investigates whether school security techniques reduce or exacerbate fear of crime among students, net of community and school disorder and student characteristics. Ferraro's (1995) theory of incivilities suggests that students might perceive highly visible security as an incivility, which might increase their fear of crime. Using a nationally representative sample of American school children from the 1993 National Household Education Survey: School Safety and Discipline Component NHES-SSD), we found that while school security efforts do not predict student fear as well as school disorder and individual student traits, many types of security correspond with a significantly greater likelihood that a student will be worried about crime while none reduce feelings of worry.