The Effects of School Climate on School Disorder

In: The annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Band 567, S. 88-107

Abstract

Explanations of school disorder have suffered from at least two deficits: (1) failure to consider institutional explanations of disorder (ie, school climate) & (2) insufficient attention to appropriate measures of disorder in research & policy making. Like people, schools have their own characteristic personalities, or climates. Survey responses from almost 7,000 students in middle schools in Philadelphia, PA, are drawn on to discuss the effects of school climate (eg, clarity & fairness of rules) & individual student characteristics (eg, age, sex, race, & dimensions of bonding) on different measures of school disorder, including victimization, avoidance, perceptions of safety, misconduct, & offending. Schools varied significantly on all measures of disorder, & school climate provided significant explanatory power for each. Results varied for different measures, though; eg, school climate predicted less serious misconduct more strongly than it predicted serious offending. School climate offers significant potential for enhancing both understanding & prevention of school violence. 2 Tables, 48 References. Adapted from the source document.