In the last fifteen years school violence has increased in frequency and scope (Clark, 1994). Further, the violence is not restricted solely to students. According to Clark (1994), public school teachers are yearly being threatened, mugged, raped, assaulted, robbed, and extorted; and the rates of these crimes against teachers are increasing at an alarming rate.
Regarding the levels of school violence, Clark (1994) reports that approximately 42 percent of teachers witness at least one serious fight every month; moreover, in any given month, approximately 20 percent of public school teachers will be threatened by students.
The foregoing statistics are reported for public schools in general; however, some authors have specifically examined public school violence in junior high. For example, Scott (1994) reports that there is an extremely high degree of risk for violence among American youth in this age group. In addition, the risk factor is disproportionally higher for African-American youth and young people from other minority groups. Contributing factors to high violence levels are said to include attitudinal, social, and behavioral variables such as the use of alcohol and other drugs, and violence related behaviors such as vandalism.
Many studies of middle school violence have attempted to discover contributing factors. One such study was conducted by Evans and Evans (1985) who observed several variables contributing to middle school violence. These variables included: community factors, school factors, and personal factors. The authors further note that some violent school behaviors can be traced to gang involvement or membership in a violent subcultural group, in which case violence against a teacher may be greatly rewarded by that group.
In addition, it is reported that there is more violence in schools if rules are perceived as being arbitrary, unfair, and inconsistently applied. However, despite these ...