School and Delinquency

1
Chapter 9

• School and Delinquency

2
School Delinquency

• Research has found that delinquency is related to
  academic achievement.
• Most theorists agree that problems associated
  with the educational system bear some
  responsibility for the relatively high rate of
  juvenile crime.
• Because people spend a longer time in school,
  their adolescence is prolonged.

3
The School in Modern American Society

• Socialization and Status
• Children spend their school hours with peers, and
  most of their after school activities involve
  with school friends.
• The school has become a primary determinant of
  economic and social status.
• The school has become an engine of social change
  and improvement.

4
The School in Modern American Society

• Education Trends
• Fourth-grade and eighth-grade reading scores have
  not changed in the last decade.
• Females outperform males
• European American and Asian/Pacific Islander
  students outperform American Indian, African
  American and Hispanic students
• Eighth graders lag those in some less affluent
  nations in math scores and are only slightly
  higher than the international average.

5
The School in Modern American Society

• Educational Problems
• One of every five children is unprepared to enter
  kindergarten.
• 18 of children are not familiar with basic rules
  of writing.
• Truancy and drop out are the products of these
  problems.

6
Academic Performance Delinquency

• Whether they drop out or not, kids who do poorly
  in school are at risk for delinquent behavior.
• Students who are chronic underachievers in school
  are among the most likely to be delinquent.
• 40 of incarcerated felons had twelve or more
  years of education, compared with 80 of the
  general population.

7
School Failure Delinquency

• Views on the nature and direction of the
  relationship between school failure and
  delinquency
• School failure is a direct cause of delinquent
  behavior.
• School failure leads to emotional and
  psychological problems that the actually cause
  antisocial behavior.
• School failure and delinquency share a common
  cause.

8
Correlates of School Failure

• Personal problems
• Social class
• Tracking
• Alienation

9
Delinquency in Schools

• 54 million students in kindergarten through
  twelfth grade are victims of 1.9 million nonfatal
  crimes at school.
• School shootings
• 55 of school shootings have had some indication
  (a note, threat, or other action) of risk for
  violence.
• No real profile has been set for the school
  shooter, however, most were depressed, alienated,
  or bullied.

10
Causes of School Crime

• School Level Causes
• Low school performance, poverty, unemployment,
  and school climate.
• Individual Level Causes
• Isolation, alcohol and substance abuse, emotional
  and psychological problems.
• Community Level Causes
• Socially disorganized neighborhoods

11
Reducing School Crime

• Zero tolerance policy mandates specific
  consequences or punishments for delinquent acts
  and not allowing anyone to avoid these
  consequences.
• School Security Efforts

12
Reducing School Crime

• Employing Law Enforcement
• Undercover detectives
• School-safety teams
• Improve School Climate
• Law enforcement can decrease morale
• Identify high-risk students early and teach them
  pro-social skills
• Improve curriculum

13
Role of the School in Delinquency Prevention

• School-based prevention programs
• Cognitive
• Affective
• Behavioral
• Environmental
• Therapeutic

14
Legal Rights in the School

• Right to Personal Privacy
• 4th Amendment right against illegal search and
  seizure does not apply to school officials.
• Reasonable grounds of a law violation
• Drug Testing
• Drug testing be done on athletes as well as all
  students active in school programs.

15
Legal Rights in the School

• Academic Privacy
• School records cannot be released without
  permission from parent.
• However, the Improving Americas Schools Act
  greatly diminished this protection.
• Free Speech
• Passive speech
• Active speech

16
Legal Rights in the School

• School Prayer
• Prohibited in schools
• School prayer can not be led by an elected
  student.
• School Discipline
• Schools have the right to discipline students,
  but students are protected from unreasonable,
  excessive, and arbitrary discipline.
• 24 states allow physical punishment