School Climate and Delinquency

Denise C. GottfredsonDepartment of Criminology and Criminal

JusticeUniversity of Maryland

April 21, 2011

This Presentation Summarize research relating school

environmental factors and delinquency

Summarize what is know about the effectiveness of interventions to alter school climate

Next steps for research and practice

What is “School Climate”

“Personality is to the individual what ‘climate’ is to the organization” (Halpin & Croft, 1963)

School-Related Individual Factors vs. School Factors Attachment/commitment to school School performance Self-control Association with deviant peers Research summarized in Gottfredson (2001)

Taxonomy of School Climate Inputs

Ecology Milieu

Social System Social organization Administration and management

Culture Peer culture Sense of community

Adapted from Tagiuri (1968)

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Social Organization Curricular offerings and organization

Specialized prevention curricula Time allocated to instruction and to

different content areas Grouping of students for instruction (e.g.,

tracking) Attention to student heterogeneity (e.g.,

extra support for low achievers)

Administration and Management Discipline management – fairness and

clarity of school rules Teacher and student shared decision-

making Decision-making/problem solving

structures Strong leadership: establishing a central

mission/clarity of goals Effective communication

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Culture Peer norms/culture Sense of community

Cooperative emphasis Positive relationships – “ethos of

caring” Consensus about norms for behavior Expectations/emphasis on academics

History of Research on School Climate and Delinquency 1970’s: Comparison of school means on

student outcomes demonstrating large variability in outcomes across schools

Early to Mid 1980’s: refined community measures, broadened school characteristics to include important aspects of social organization, school culture, and school administration

Safe School Study 1976 national sample of 642 secondary

schools Extensive data collection: Principal,

teacher, and student surveys Extensive questioning: victimization

experiences, personal characteristics, and characteristics of schools

Census data on the school communities Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 1985

Characteristics Related to Teacher Victimization Rates: Community and School Milieu Variables Input characteristics of the students

and communities in which the schools were located accounted for 54% and 43% for jr. and sr. high schools.

Controlling for these characteristics, characteristics of the schools accounted for an additional 12% and 18% of variance

School Characteristics Contributing to Higher Teacher Victimization Rates: School Administration/Management Variables

Greater use of ambiguous sanctions

Lower perceptions among students that rule enforcement is firm and clear (junior high schools)

Less teacher-administration cooperation (senior high schools)

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

School Characteristics Contributing to Higher Teacher Victimization Rates: School Culture Variables

Lower school averages on student beliefs in the conventional social rules (sr. high schools)

More punitive teacher attitudes

More democratic attitudes of teachers (jr. high schools only)

National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools Intended to describe …

level of crime and disorder

policies and practices currently being implemented to increase school safety or reduce disorder

Sampling Design Nationally representative sample

of schools stratified by location and level

Probability sample of 1287 schools

First principal survey in 1997 Second principal survey, student

and teacher surveys in 1998

Are Safe School Study Findings Replicated? To what extent is school disorder

explained by externally determined characteristics of the school and community?

To what extent are perceived fairness and clarity of rules and more positive school psycho-social climates related to school disorder?

Survey MeasuresSchool Disorder Teacher Victimization Student Victimization Student Delinquency

TeacherStudentStudent

School Climate Social Climate Organizational Focus Morale Planning Administrative Leadership Discipline Management Fairness of Rules Clarity of Rules

TeacherTeacherTeacherTeacher

StudentStudent

Measuring Exogenous Variables

Exogenous Variable Description

% Students African-American Common Core of Data% Teachers African-American Self-report from teacher questionnairePoverty & Disorganization Factor score from 1990 Census measures

(welfare, female headed household, median income, poverty, divorce rate, male and female unemployment)

Residential Crowding Factor score from 1990 Census measures(crowding, foreign household)

Student enrollment Natural log of enrollment from principal & CCDUrbanicity Factor score from 1990 Census measures

(population size, urban level, proportion living in urban areas)

% students male Self-report gender from student questionnaire

Grade level Middle/junior high (0); senior high (1)

Variance in School DisorderTotal R2 Incremental

R2

Student DelinquencyExogenous Factors only School Climate Factors added

.12

.49 .37

Student VictimizationExogenous Factors onlySchool Climate Factors added

.23

.34 .11

Teacher VictimizationExogenous Factors onlySchool Climate Factors added

.25

.55 .30

Structural Model

Structural Controls

• Percent Students male

• Concentrated Poverty/AA

• Size and Urbanicity

• Residential Crowding

• Grade Level

Social Climate

Discipline Management

Teacher Victimization

Student Delinquency

Student Victimization

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

School Size and Student Victimization

Structural Controls

• Community Concentrated Disadvantage

• Urbanicity/Mobility

• Racial/Ethnic Student Composition

• Average Student Age

Personal Victimization

Property Victimization

Student Enrollment

Student-TeacherRatio

Number of Different Students

Taught

School Size and Student Victimization

Structural Controls

• Community Concentrated Disadvantage

• Urbanicity/Mobility

• Racial/Ethnic Student Composition

• Average Student Age

Personal Victimization

Property Victimization

Student Enrollment

Student-TeacherRatio

Number of Different Students

Taught

+

--

School Culture Mediates Effect

• Structural Controls

• Community Concentrated Disadvantage

• Urbanicity/Mobility

• Racial/Ethnic Student Composition

• Average Student Age

Student/Teacher Ratio

Personal Victimization

Consensus about Norms

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Communal Social Organization (CSO)

Schools in which “…members know, care about, and support one another, have common goals and sense of shared purpose, and…actively contribute and feel personally committed” (Solomon et al., 1997)

Does CSO Influence School Disorder? Do schools with higher levels of

communal school organization have lower levels of school disorder?

If so, is the effect of communal school organization on school disorder mediated by student bonding?

Measurement Model: School Factors

Communal School

Organization

StudentBonding

Common Goals

& Norms

Supportive Relations Attachment Belief Commitment

Effects of CSO

Structural Controls

• Percent Students male

• Concentrated Poverty/AA

• Size and Urbanicity

• Residential Crowding

• Grade Level

Communal School Organization

Student Delinquency

Student Bonding

Cross-level interactions?Does CSO interact with student

bonding such that student bonding has less of an effect on delinquency in schools that are more communally organized?

CSO Influences Individual-level AssociationsThe relationship between bonding

and delinquency is influenced by CSO:Attachment and belief have less effect on delinquency in higher CSO schools

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Lessons from School ShootingsSource: National Research Council and

Institute of Medicine. (2003) Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. Case Studies of School Violence Committee. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10370#toc

Characteristics of the Communities Gulf between youth culture and

adults Shooters intensely concerned about

status and protecting themselves – they mistrusted others in the school

Adults had poor understanding of children’s experiences

Shooters felt there was “nowhere to turn”

Specific warnings given and missed

School Climate and Delinquency -- Important Dimensions Social System

Social organization (social climate, student/tchr ratio, # students taught)

School and discipline management Culture

Sense of community

Mean Effect Sizes: Individual vs. Environmental Change

All interventions OutcomeEffect Size

Mean† Min Max N‡

All individually focused interventions

Crime -0.02

-0.67 0.41 33Anti-Soc. 0.20* -0.59 1.62 58AOD 0.03* -0.44 0.54 68

All environmentally focused interventions

Crime 0.24* -0.16 0.65 12Anti-Soc. 0.14* -0.86 0.57 21AOD 0.13* -0.23 0.40 20

Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002)* p < 0.05† Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model).‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Mean Effect Size: Changing Social Organization

Environmentally focused intervention Outcome

Effect Size

Mean† Min Max N‡

Reorganization of grades or classes Crime 0.24* 0.23 0.36 2

Anti-Soc. 0.23* 0.23 0.23 2 

       

Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002) * p < 0.05; † Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model)., ‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Mean Effect Size: Changing Administration/Management

Environmentally focused interventions Outcome

Effect Size

Mean† Min Max N‡School discipline and management interventions Crime 0.27* 0.12 0.65 5

Anti-Soc. 0.13 -0.10 0.37 6AOD 0.24* 0.15 0.33 2

Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002) * p < 0.05; † Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model)., ‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.

School Milieu

School Ecology

Community Context

Social System

School Culture

Problem Behavior

Individual Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs

Social Organization

Admin./Management

Peer Culture Sense of Community

Externally-Determined School-Level Individual-Level

Mean Effect Size: Changing School Culture

Environmentally focused interventions Outcome

Effect Size

Mean† Min Max N‡

Interventions to establish norms or expectations for behavior

AOD 0.09 -0.23 0.31 12

Source: Gottfredson, Wilson, and Najaka (2002) * p < 0.05; † Inverse variance weighted mean effect size (random effects model)., ‡ Number of effect sizes contributing to the analysis.

Final Recommendations – For Research Additional research needed to

experimentally test school climate interventions – especially “communal social organization”

Research needed to understand how school climate influences the effectiveness of individual-level school-based prevention efforts

Final Recommendations – For Practice Improve school climate, especially

Build stronger bonds between adults and youths

Promote consensus about norms for behavior

Enhance communication Promote fair and clear rule enforcement

Thank You!Denise C. Gottfredson

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

University of Maryland 301-405-4717 gott@umd.edu

References Cook, Gottfredson, & Na (2010). School Crime Control and

Prevention. In Tonry, M. (ed). Crime and Justice: A Review of Research.

Gottfredson, D. C. (2001). Schools and Delinquency. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Gottfredson, D. C. and DiPietro, S. M. (2011). School Size, Social Capital, and Student Victimization Sociology of Education, 84 (1), 69-89.

Gottfredson, D. C. & Gottfredson, G. D. (2002). Quality of School-Based Prevention Programs: Results from a National Survey. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39, 1, 3-35.

References, Continued Gottfredson, D. C. & Wilson, D. B. (2003). Characteristics of

Effective School-Based Substance Abuse Prevention. Prevention Science, 4, 27-38.

Gottfredson, D. C., Wilson, D. B., & Najaka, S. S. (2002). School-based crime prevention. In Sherman, L. W., Farrington, D. P., Welsh, B. C., & MacKenzie, D. L. (eds.). Evidence-Based Crime Prevention. London, UK: Routledge.

Gottfredson, G. D., & Gottfredson, D. C. (1985). Victimization in schools. New York: Plenum.

Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Czeh, E. R., Cantor, D., Crosse, S. B. and Hantman, I. (2004). Research in Brief: Toward Safe and Orderly Schools: The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

References, Continued Gottfredson, G. D., Gottfredson, D. C., Payne, A. A., and

Gottfredson, N. C. (2005). School Climate Predictors of School Disorder: Results from the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42, (4), 412-444.

Payne, A. A., Gottfredson, D. C., and Gottfredson, G. D. (2003). Schools as Communities: The Relationship among Communal School Organization, Student Bonding, and School Disorder. Criminology, 41, 749-778.

Payne, A. A. (2008). A multilevel analysis of the relationships among communal school organization, student bonding, and delinquency. Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency, 45, 4, 429-455.

Wilson, D. B., Gottfredson, D. C., & Najaka, S. S. (2001). School-based prevention of problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 17(3), 247-272.