Crime Prevention in the Classroom: Gendered Impacts on Offending

Abstract

This study examines school-based crime prevention tactics using a place management framework in conjunction with deterrence and labeling theoretical perspectives. We examine the effects of four different aspects of place management on student offending and explore whether and how the effects are distinctive for female versus male students. We analyze survey data from students and principals across three waves of the Rural Substance abuse and Violence Project using multilevel-binomial models. Findings reveal that several aspects of place management interacted with gender, thus differentially impacting male versus female offending. Overall, this study extends past work in providing evidence of the gendered impact of some crime prevention practices—conditional effects that are consistent with insights from both deterrence and labeling theoretical perspectives.

Keywords

deterrence gender labeling place management practices school crime prevention

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Astor

R. A.

Meyer

H. A.

(2001). The conceptualization of violence-prone school subcontexts: Is the sum of the parts greater than the whole? Urban Education, 36(3), 374–399.

Astor

R. A.

Meyer

H. A.

Behre

W. J.

(1999). Unowned places and times: Maps and interviews about violence in high schools. American Educational Research Journal, 36(1), 3–42.

Bachman

Randolph

Brown

B. L.

(2011). Predicting perceptions of fear at school and going to and from school for African American and White students: The effects of school security measures. Youth & Society, 43(2), 705–726.

Bernburg

J. G.

Krohn

M. D.

(2003). Labeling, life chances, and adult crime: The direct and indirect effects of official intervention in adolescence on crime in early adulthood. Criminology, 41(4), 1287–1318.

Bracy

N. L.

(2011). Student perceptions of high-security school environments. Youth & Society, 43(1), 365–395.

Britt

C. L.

Rocque

Zimmerman

G. M.

(2018). The analysis of bounded count data in criminology. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 34(2), 591–607.

Burrow

J. D.

Apel

(2008). Youth behavior, school structure, and student risk of victimization. Justice Quarterly, 25(2), 349–380.

Casella

(2018). School security and its corporate offerings. In Deakin

Taylor

Kupchik

(Eds.) The Palgrave international handbook of school discipline, surveillance, and social control (pp. 389–404). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Clarke

R. V.

Bichler-Robertson

(1998). Place managers, slumlords and crime in low rent apartment buildings. Security Journal, 11(1), 11–19.

10.

Clarke

R. V.

Cornish

D. B.

(1985). Modeling offenders’ decisions: A framework for research and policy. Crime and Justice, 6, 147–185.

11.

Cohen

L. E.

Felson

(1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44(4), 588–608.

12.

Cook

P. J.

Gottfredson

D. C.

(2010). School crime control and prevention. Crime and Justice, 39(1), 313–440.

13.

Cornell

(2015). Our schools are safe: Challenging the misperception that schools are dangerous places. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(3), 217–220.

14.

Crawford

Burns

(2015). Preventing school violence: Assessing armed guardians, school policy, and context. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 38(4), 631–647.

15.

Crawford

Burns

(2016). Reducing school violence: Considering school characteristics and the impacts of law enforcement, school security, and environmental factors. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 39(3), 455–477.

16.

Eck

J. E.

(1994). Drug markets and drug places: A case-control study of the spatial structure of illicit drug dealing. University of Maryland, College Park.

17.

Eck

Guerette

(2012). “Own the place, own the crime” prevention: How evidence about place-based crime shifts the burden of prevention. In Loeber

Welsh

B. C.

(Eds.), The future of criminology (pp. 166–171). Oxford University Press.

18.

Eck

J. E.

Madensen

T. D.

(2018). Place management. In Bruinsma

G. J. N.

Johnson

S. D.

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of environmental criminology (pp. 623–663). Oxford University Press.

19.

Eck

J. E.

Wartell

(1998). Improving the management of rental properties with drug problems: A randomized experiment. Crime Prevention Studies, 9(16), 1–185.

20.

Finley

N. J.

Grasmick

H. G.

(1985). Gender roles and social control. Sociological Spectrum, 5(4), 317–330.

21.

Fisher

B. W.

Gardella

J. H.

Tanner-Smith

E. E.

(2019). Social control in schools: The relationships between school security measures and informal social control mechanisms. Journal of School Violence, 18(3), 347–361.

22.

Fisher

B. W.

Hennessy

E. A.

(2016). School resource officers and exclusionary discipline in US high Schools: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Adolescent Research Review, 3(1), 217–233.

23.

Fisher

B. W.

Higgins

E. M.

Homer

E. M.

(2021). School crime and punishment and the implementation of security cameras: Findings from a national longitudinal study. Justice Quarterly, 38(1), 22–46.

24.

Fissel

E. R.

Wilcox

Tillyer

M. S.

(2019). School discipline policies, perceptions of justice, and in-school delinquency. Crime & Delinquency, 65(10), 1343–1370.

25.

Gazzerro

Laird

(2008). Linking spending and student achievement: Managing inputs, processes and outcomes. National Center for Educational Achievement.

26.

Gilchrist

A. M.

Deryol

Payne

T. C.

Wilcox

(2019). Place management in neighborhood context: an analysis of crime at apartments in Cincinnati. Security Journal, 32(4), 501–522.

27.

Reingle Gonzalez

J. M.

Jetelina

K. K.

Jennings

W. G

. (2016). Structural school safety measures, SROs, and school-related delinquent behavior and perceptions of safety: A state-of-the-art review. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 39(3), 438–454.

28.

Gottfredson

D. C.

Cook

P. J.

(2012). Schools and prevention. The Oxford Handbook of Crime Prevention, 269–287.

29.

Gottfredson

D. C.

Crosse

Tang

Bauer

E. L.

Harmon

M. A.

Hagen

C. A.

Greene

A. D.

(2020). Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(3), 905–940.

30.

Gottfredson

G. D.

Gottfredson

D. C.

Payne

A. A.

Gottfredson

N. C.

(2005). School climate predictors of school disorder: Results from a national study of delinquency prevention in schools. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42(4), 412–444.

31.

Grasmick

H. G.

Bursik

R. J.

Jr. (1990). Conscience, significant others, and rational choice: Extending the deterrence model. Law and Society Review, 24(3), 837–861.

32.

Grasmick

H. G.

Tittle

C. R.

Bursik

R. J.

Jr. Arneklev

B. J.

(1993). Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30(1), 5–29.

33.

Gregory

Skiba

R. J.

Noguera

P. A.

(2010). The achievement gap and the discipline gap: Two sides of the same coin? Educational Researcher, 39(1), 59–68.

34.

Hanushek

E. A.

Link

Woessmann

(2013). Does school autonomy make sense everywhere? Panel estimates from PISA. Journal of Development Economics, 104, 212–232.

35.

Hinkle

J. C.

Weisburd

Famega

Ready

(2013). The problem is not just sample size: The consequences of low base rates in policing experiments in smaller cities. Evaluation Review, 37(3–4), 213–238.

36.

Holtfreter

Morash

(2003). The needs of women offenders. Women & Criminal Justice, 14(2–3), 137–160.

37.

James

McCallion

(2013). School resource officers: Law enforcement officers in schools. Congressional Research Service.

38.

Jennings

W. G.

Khey

D. N.

Maskaly

Donner

C. M.

(2011). Evaluating the relationship between law enforcement and school security measures and violent crime in schools. Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, 11(2), 109–124.

39.

Johnson

I. M.

(1999). School violence: The effectiveness of a school resource officer program in a southern city. Journal of Criminal Justice, 27(2), 173–192.

40.

Johnson

R. S.

(2000). Metal detector searches: An effective means to help keep weapons out of schools. Journal of Law and Education, 29(2), 197–203.

41.

Karp

D. R.

Breslin

(2001). Restorative justice in school communities. Youth & Society, 33(2), 249–272.

42.

Klein

(1992). Self-reported reasons for why college students drink. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 37(2), 14–28.

43.

Kozielecki

(1982). Psychological decision theory (Vol. 24). Springer Science & Business Media.

44.

Kupchik

(2016). The real school safety problem: The long-term consequences of harsh school punishment. University of California Press.

45.

Kupchik

Farina

K. A.

(2016). Imitating authority: Students’ perceptions of school punishment and security, and bullying victimization. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 14(2), 147–163.

46.

Lemert

(1951a). Primary and secondary deviation. Crime. Critical Concepts in Sociology, 3, 603–607.

47.

Lemert

E. M.

(1951b). Social pathology; A systematic approach to the theory of sociopathic behavior. McGraw-Hill.

48.

Lee

Y. O. S.

Eck

J. E.

(2022). Why your bar has crime but not mine: Resolving the land use and crime–risky facility conflict. Justice Quarterly, 39(5), 1009–1035.

49.

Liberman

A. M.

Kirk

D. S.

Kim

(2014). Labeling effects of first juvenile arrests: Secondary deviance and secondary sanctioning. Criminology, 52(3), 345–370.

50.

Madensen

T. D.

Eck

J. E.

(2008). Violence in bars: Exploring the impact of place manager decision-making. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 10(2), 111–125.

51.

Madensen

T. D.

Eck

J. E.

(2013). Crime places and place management. In F. T. Cullen & P. Wilcox (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of criminological theory (pp. 554–578). Oxford University Press.

52.

Matza

(1964). Delinquency and drift. Wiley.

53.

Mazerolle

L. G.

Roehl

Kadleck

(1998). Controlling social disorder using civil remedies: Results for a randomized field experiment in Oakland, California. In Mazerolle

L. G.

Roehl

(Eds.), Civil remedies and crime prevention (pp. 141–159). Criminal Justice Press.

54.

Mears

D. P.

Cochran

J. C.

Bales

W. D.

(2012). Gender differences in the effects of prison on recidivism. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(5), 370–378.

55.

Moffitt

T. E.

(1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological review, 100(4), 674–701.

56.

Mowen

T. J.

Brent

J. J.

(2020). The effect of school discipline on offending across time. Justice Quarterly, 37(4), 739–760.

57.

Gottfredson

D. C.

(2013). Police officers in schools: Effects on school crime and the processing of offending behaviors. Justice Quarterly, 30(4), 619–650.

58.

Nagin

D. S.

Paternoster

(1993). Enduring individual differences and rational choice theories of crime. Law and Society Review, 27(3), 467–496.

59.

Nickerson

A. B.

Martens

M. P.

(2008). School violence: Associations with control, security/enforcement, educational/therapeutic approaches, and demographic factors. School Psychology Review, 37(2), 228–243.

60.

Novacek

Raskin

Hogan

(1991). Why do adolescents use drugs? Age, sex, and user differences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20(5), 475–492.

61.

Lee

Wilcox

Cullen

F. T

. (2022). Deviant identity and offending: A longitudinal study of South Korean Youths. Crime & Delinquency. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221102061

62.

Olweus

(1999). Norway. In Smith

P. K.

Morita

Junger-Tas

Olweus

Catalano

Slee

(Eds.), The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective (pp. 28–48). Routledge.

63.

O’Neill

McGloin

J. M.

(2007). Considering the efficacy of situational crime prevention in schools. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(5), 511–523.

64.

Paternoster

Iovanni

(1989). The labeling perspective and delinquency: An elaboration of the theory and an assessment of the evidence. Justice Quarterly, 6(3), 359–394.

65.

Payne

A. A.

Gottfredson

D. C.

Gottfredson

G. D.

(2003). Schools as communities: The relationships among communal school organization, student bonding, and school disorder. Criminology, 41(3), 749–778.

66.

Payne

A. A.

Welch

(2018). The effect of school conditions on the use of restorative justice in schools. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 16(2), 224–240.

67.

Payne

T. C.

(2010). Does changing ownership change crime? An analysis of apartment ownership and crime in Cincinnati. University of Cincinnati.

68.

Peguero

A. A.

Bracy

N. L.

(2015). School order, justice, and education: Climate, discipline practices, and dropping out. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25(3), 412–426.

69.

Piquero

Tibbetts

(1996). Specifying the direct and indirect effects of low self-control and situational factors in offenders’ decision making: Toward a more complete model of rational offending. Justice Quarterly, 13(3), 481–510.

70.

Schreck

C. J.

Miller

J. M.

Gibson

C. L.

(2003). Trouble in the school yard: A study of the risk factors of victimization at school. Crime & Delinquency, 49(3), 460–484.

71.

Sebold

F. D.

Dato

(1981). School funding and student achievement: An empirical analysis. Public Finance Quarterly, 9(1), 91–105.

72.

Sherman

L. W.

Smith

D. A.

Schmidt

J. D.

Rogan

D. P.

(1992). Crime, punishment, and stake in conformity: Legal and informal control of domestic violence. American Sociological Review, 57(5), 680–690.

73.

Skiba

R. J.

Horner

R. H.

Chung

C. G.

Rausch

M. K.

May

S. L.

Tobin

(2011). Race is not neutral: A national investigation of African American and Latino disproportionality in school discipline. School Psychology Review, 40(1), 85–107.

74.

Swartz

Osborne

D. L.

Dawson-Edwards

Higgins

G. E.

(2016). Policing schools: Examining the impact of place management activities on school violence. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 3(41), 465–483.

75.

Tannenbaum

(1938). Crime and the community. Columbia University Press.

76.

Tanner-Smith

E. E.

Fisher

B. W.

Addington

L. A.

Gardella

J. H.

(2018). Adding security, but subtracting safety? Exploring schools’ use of multiple visible security measures. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(1), 102–119.

77.

Tibbetts

S. G.

(1999). Differences between women and men regarding decisions to commit test cheating. Research in Higher Education, 40(3), 323–342.

78.

Tibbetts

S. G.

Herz

D. C.

(1996). Gender differences in factors of social control and rational choice. Deviant Behavior, 17(2), 183–208.

79.

Tillyer

M. S.

Wilcox

Fissel

E. R.

(2018). Violence in schools: Repeat victimization, low self-control, and the mitigating influence of school efficacy. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 34(2), 609–632.

80.

Tittle

C. K.

(1989). Validity: Whose construction is it in the teaching and learning context? Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 8(1), 5–13.

81.

Turanovic

J. J.

Pratt

T. C.

Kulig

T. C.

Cullen

F. T.

(2019). Individual, institutional, and community sources of school violence: A meta-analysis. National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice.

82.

Van Voorhis

. (2012). On behalf of women offenders: Women’s place in the science of evidence-based practice. Criminology & Public Policy, 11(2), 111–145.

83.

Wang

Chen

Zhang

Oudekerk

B. A.

(2020). Indicators of school crime and safety: 2019 (NCES 2020-063/NCJ 254485). National Center for Education Statistics.

84.

Ward

J. T.

Krohn

M. D.

Gibson

C. L.

(2014). The effects of police contact on trajectories of violence: A group-based, propensity score matching analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(3), 440–475.

85.

Welsh

W. N.

(2003). Individual and institutional predictors of school disorder. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1(4), 346–368.

86.

Whitaker

Torres-Gullien

Morton

Jordan

Coyle

Sun

W. L.

(2019). Cops & no counselors: How the lack of school mental health staff is harming students.

87.

Wilcox

Clayton

R. R.

(2001). A multilevel analysis of school-based weapon possession. Justice Quarterly, 18(3), 509–541.

88.

Wright

E. M.

Van Voorhis

Salisbury

E. J.

Bauman

(2012). Gender-responsive lessons learned and policy implications for women in prison: A review. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(12), 1612–1632.

89.

Yochelson

Samenow

(1976). The criminal personality: A profile for change (Vol. 1). Jason Aronson.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.83 MB