School Violence NATURE OF THE STUDY Statement of th

School violence is one of the most serious problems currently facing the American educational system. The economic costs of the problem is enormous, having been estimated at over $200 million (Natalie, 1994b) . But even more serious is the social and psychological costs of violence. These costs are fear, suspicion, and alienation among students, teachers, and administrators.

Although the social and psychological costs are quite serious, there as been relatively little research examining the contribution to reducing or exacerbating violence that may be associated with the school principal, most particularly with his/her style of leadership. A search of 12 Dialog databases revealed only one study of school violence and principal leadership style.

However, there is reason to believe that leadership style may be a variable through which principals can reduce school violence. For example, Vecchio (1991) reports that studies of violence in the workplace have been fairly consistently associated with managerial leadership style. In this regard, Vecchio reports that when managers are oriented toward human relations rather than simply toward tasks, the levels of workplace violence are lower.

Could it be that when principals are more oriented toward human relations in their leadership style, the levels of student violence at their schools are lower than they are when other leadership styles are practiced? Indeed,

sed and specific look at the problem. For example, McGee (1993) examined for victimization patterns of school violence through firearms, knives, and other weapons among 1,663 high school students in ten inner-city schools across the United States. In accounting for victimization patterns, emphasis was placed on socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to guns outside school, exposure to violence in school, and illegal activities which may place students at a greater risk of being victimized either in school or in transit to and from school. Relying on recent research based on the lifestyle/routine activities approach, the study focused primarily on the behavioral characteristics (i.e., arrest record, gang membership, drug sales) of the students as contributing factors to victimization. The results strongly supported the argument that exposure to guns out of school and illegal activities have significant effects on the likelihood of victimization. With regard to the former, the findings indicated that weapons carrying among males and perceived access to guns in the neighborhood increase the risk of victimization separate from the influence of other variables. Additionally, the findings showed strongest support for the

Category: Psychology - S