School Violence to School Safety: Reframing the Issue for School Psychologists

Although issues and problems related to school violence have been indirectly addressed by school psychologists through crisis intervention programs, suicide prevention/intervention, and individual programs for antisocial and aggressive youth, school psychologists have not played a major role in the current national school violence agenda. This limited direct involvement is related to the fact that leadership on this issue has been provided historically by professionals and researchers in the juvenile justice field and, more recently, the public health field. To date there has been limited articulation of a rationale for relating school violence to the roles and functions of school psychologists and other educators. This article presents a rationale for the involvement of school psychologists in addressing concerns about violence that occurs in schools. A linkage between violent incidents and more general school safety is made. When school violence concerns are reframed to develop resiliency in youth to help them cope with the stresses and risks associated with violence, then school psychologists will have much to offer as schools address this issue.