Trouble in the School Yard: a Study of the Risk Factors of Victimization at School

The victimization of students at school is currently a matter of grave public concern. This study attempts to identify factors that single out junior and senior high school students as victims of campus theft and violent crime. Previous research indicates that victimization risk can flow from a variety of situational and individual variables, although this research has not focused on victimization in the school setting. To test which factors are most salient at school, we employed the 1993 National Household and Education Survey, School Safety and Discipline component (NHES-SSD). We found that although community variables exert some effect on schoolyard victimization risk, risk levels are associated with the presence of likely offenders at school as well as individual students who have delinquent characteristics and criminal associates. The attempts of schools to protect students through target-hardening strategies (e.g., metal detectors and security guards) were consistently unsuccessful.