Schools and delinquency

Schools Children more at risk if they are truant or have dropped out of school More at risk if they have poor academic records Feeling of alienation from school Children who do not like school, do not do well and do not do homework at risk

Schools Children who do well at school are less at risk, even if poor, abused and/or neglected 74% of nonoffenders graduate from high school. Among chronic offenders (4 or more arrests) it is less than 10% 60% of prisoners have NOT had 12 years of education

Schools Is school a cause of delinquency? School failure hypothesis: they feel frusted and angry, seek out others who are similar and engage in antisocial behavior. They get negative responses from adults, and this reinforces the behaviors

Schools Problem Behavior syndrome: school failure and problem behaviors have common causes (impulsivity, aggression, low self- control, etc) Another possibility is that school failure leads to low self-concept and then delinquency

Schools Children who are poor are more likely to have problems in school and become delinquent Middle class measuring rod, expectations of teachers

Other factors High school pressures, student cliques and stereotyping, alienation of some students Curriculum problems Tracking Non-college tracked students do more poorly, participate less in school activities, more likely to be delinquent and drop out

Tracking Students locked out of opportunities Stigma associated with tracking (might begin at the lower grades) Impact of labeling Evidence is mixed with respect to delinquency

Dropping out Youths with antisocial histories are likely to increase their criminal activities after dropping out Youths who drop out for other reasons are less likely to become criminal Some dropouts actually decrease delinquent activity after dropping out Should there be compulsory education?

Schools Schools with lower delinquency rates have: Core of motivated students Nurturing environment Fair (not arbitrary, not excessive) but firm rules Smaller schools do better than larger ones (supervision issue)

Schools Condition of buildings, etc., not as predictive as other factors Lowering student-teacher ratio helpful to a limited degree

School prevention programs DARE and other substance abuse prevention programs Continuation of school for pregnant teens Special programs such as anger management, conflict resolution, peer mentors, tutoring, social services, dropout prevention Alternative schools

Prevention School resource officers (SROs) After school programs Life skills programs such as problem solving, stress management, basic competencies

Suspension/expulsion Problems Suspension may be reinforcing, sends a mixed message (alternative school) Suspended student might be inadvertently rewarded by parent(s)—school has no control over ensuring that it is punitive Suspended/expelled students are likely to be unsupervised

Suspension/expulsions Likely to have an academically detrimental effect Might solve the school’s problem, but create new problems for the community