The Adolescent Victim of School Violence: Social and Situational Risk Factors

There is apparently a common and persistent belief that crime at school is widespread and that any student has a good chance of becoming a victim (e.g., Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 1985; Juvonen, 2001; Tucker, 2001). In response to this concern, schools have implemented costly law-and-order approaches, such as hiring new police officers, as well as installing security devices and putting zero-tolerance policies into practice (Casella, 2001; Juvonen, 2001). These approaches annually receive millions of dollars in federal financial support through the 1994 Safe Schools Act. Clearly, the problem of victimization in schools is visible and has drawn attention from the legislature as well as the public.