Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Dennis Triplett
Committee Member
Anne Joslin
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic performance, crime, faculty perceptions, gang activity, high schools, intervention, juvenile delinquency, middle schools, school climate, school safety, school violence, student suspensions, survey responses, urban schools, violence, Youth Crime Watch of America Program
Abstract
The intervention described in this dissertation was conducted at an urban high school in the southeastern United States. The subject school had a considerably high and increasing number of Class III student suspensions. Particularly high and increasing were Class III suspensions involving crime, violence, and gang activity. Because of increasing crime, violence, and gang activity at the school, a considerably low percentage of student and faculty respondents to pre-intervention surveys agreed that the school was a safe place.
In order to gain better control of crime, violence, and gang activity at the school, the Youth Crime Watch of America Program was implemented. The projected outcomes of this intervention were: (a) the number of Class III suspensions at the subject school will decrease by 20% compared to the school year preceding the intervention; and (b) 50% of student respondents and 50% of faculty respondents to post-intervention surveys will agree that the subject school is a safe place.
The projected outcomes of the intervention were met. The number of Class III suspensions at the subject school decreased by 38% compared to the school year preceding the intervention. The percentage of student and faculty respondents to postintervention surveys who agreed that the subject school was a safe place increased to 65% and 55% respectively. The results of this study offer important insight into potentially effective, strategic responses to problems of crime, violence, and gang activity at the subject school and similar schools.