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Author(s): Ron Avi Astor, Heather Ann Meyer and Ronald O. Pitner
Source: The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 101, No. 5 (May, 2001), pp. 511-528
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002121
Accessed: 19-01-2017 13:39 UTC
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The Elementary School Journal
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Elementary and Abstract
Students' Perceptions
middle schools in 2 urban areas regarding
violence-prone subcontexts in their schools. We
of Violence-Prone explored context in several ways including con-
trasts (1) between elementary and middle
schools, (2) among grade levels, and (3) among
School Subcontexts subcontexts within schools (e.g., hallways, cafe-
terias, playgrounds, classrooms). Variation in
student perceptions of school safety between
sixth graders in elementary schools and sixth
Ron Avi Astor graders in middle schools was examined to bet-
ter understand the relative influence of devel-
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor opment and school organization on student per-
ceptions. Findings suggested that middle school
students were far more likely than elementary
Heather Ann Meyer students to perceive danger in multiple and spe-
cific school subcontexts. Sixth graders in elemen-
Wellesley College Center for Research on Women
tary schools tended to view dangerous school
contexts in a manner similar to second and
Ronald O. Pitner fourth graders, whereas the views of sixth gr
ers in middle schools were similar to those of
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
eighth graders. Thus, the organization and social
dynamics of the middle school likely influenced
students' perceptions of safety. Results also sug-
gested that students in different grades within
elementary and middle schools perceived dan-
ger differently in some subcontexts (cafeteria
and hallways). Implications for research, theory,
and practice are discussed.
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512 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
MAY 2001
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PERCEPTIONS 513
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514 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
MAY 2001
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PERCEPTIONS 515
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516 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
middle schools
of school attended (e.g., (N = 155) located or
elementary in twomid-
dle). Consequently, in this study we N
urban areas in the Midwest (total = 377).
com-
pared perceptions of Thedanger
physical designbetween
and the structure sixth
of the
graders in elementary and middle
five elementary schools were schools.
similar. Like-
wise, thegraders
We expected that sixth two middle schools
in were similar
middle
schools would perceive
in designmore unsafe
and structure. areas
Table 1 describes
than sixth graders the inoverall
elementary schools
student population from each
school by gender, (e.g.,
due to the physical structure ethnicity, smaller,
and free/
larger) and social dynamics
reduced-price lunchofstatus.
the middle
Students were
school setting. selected from grades 2, 4, 6, and 8. Of the
sixth graders,
From a methodological 51 attended elementary
perspective this
inquiry builds on theschools Astor,
and 54 attendedMeyer,
middle schools. and
Behre (1999) study in The several
overall sampleways.
of studentsFirst,
interviewed
the Astor et al. studyfrom wasthese small scale
seven schools and
was approxi-
mately the
qualitative. In contrast, 67% male and 33% female.
current study About
half were quantitative/qual-
employed a larger-scale, African American (51%), 40%
were white,
itative approach. Second, this and approximately
study is 5%awere log-
ical extension of theLatino(a).
methodsAlmost 82% ofand
the students were
findings
of Astor et al. to middle
receiving free and elementary
or reduced-price lunch.
schools. Third, the interviews with
Students in both types the
of schools stu-
were
dents in this study were
selected onconducted individ-
the basis of the aggressiveness
ually rather than in of focus groups.
their behavior at school, grade level, gen-
In summary, the primary der, and ethnicity.goal of
Of the 443 this
students, 85%
inquiry was to examine: (1) parental
(N = 381) received howconsent students
to par-
in elementary and ticipate middle schools
in the study. Four students(grades
who re-
2, 4, 6, and 8) perceived unsafe
ceived parental consent school sub-
chose not to par-
contexts, (2) how students' ticipate. We collected
grade detailed
leveldata onin-
fluenced their views of school
students' safety,
level of aggression and
in the school.
(3) how sixth graders in
More elementary
specifically, schools
we used both teacher and
versus sixth graders principal in middle ratings of schools from
aggression combined
the same communities viewed violence- with school records of physical fights in or-
derex-
prone school subcontexts. In general, we to determine whether there were differ-
pected more middle than elementary school
ences between the perceptions of students
students to perceive unsafe subcontexts.
who were frequently involved in aggres-
Nevertheless, within each school typesionwe
and those who were not.
expected that there would be variation inWe believed that this data gathering was
the way students at different grade levels
important because it was possible that stu-
perceived dangerous locations. Even so, we who exhibited aggressive behavior in-
dents
predicted that the organization and context
teracted differently with school spaces than
of the school (i.e., middle school vs. elemen-
students who were infrequently aggressive.
tary school) would influence students'For per-
example, students who participate in
ception more than development alone-es-
fights frequently may not perceive areas
pecially with our sixth-grade comparison
where fights occur as dangerous, whereas
groups. students who tend not to engage in fights
Method may perceive those spaces as potentially
dangerous and avoid them. If this were the
Participants case, it could influence the interpretation
The students in this study were selected
and practical use of our findings. Analyses
from five elementary (N = 222) and showed
two that there were no differences be-
MAY 2001
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518 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
makes them
tween students with "unsafe"?; (c) Who is this
aggressive and area no
aggressive histories
dangerouson perceptions
for (boys/girls, big kids/little o
school safety and school
kids, and so on)?;
spaces.
(d) Is there aThere
time of day we
also no gender differences. Thus,
when this area is dangerous the ana
or unsafe?
yses reported in this article focus on pote
Analyses
tial differences between students in differ-
ent grades and those in elementary andEach student's map and interview were
middle schools. Overall, the sample was
individually coded. This process entailed
documenting the location(s) that each stu-
comprised of approximately 10% of the to-
tal population of all seven schools. dent identified as unsafe or dangerous.
Afterwards, a list of all identified spaces
The seven schools were part of a larger
was constructed and then entered into a
project (funded by the National Institutes
for Mental Health, National Academy database.
of The following are examples of
Education/Spencer Foundation) that ex- some of the categories that were created
amined school violence. Data from this from the list: the gymnasium is unsaf
study showed that the selected schools (agree/disagree),
and the cafeteria is unsafe
surrounding neighborhoods had high and rates
the bathroom is unsafe. The codes from
of school and community violence, high ra-
the students' individual maps were then en-
tios of student/family poverty, andtered severe
into the database in order to compile
neighborhood physical deterioration information
(tab- related to the areas that were
ulated from census track data, localnominated
police as unsafe. The analyses closely
data, observational methods, and school paralleled our research questions and de-
records). sign. Our first set of analyses explored how
students in middle and elementary schools
Instruments and Procedure
viewed specific violence-prone subcontexts
Maps and interviews. Students were (bathrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds, and so
given a map (simplified school blueprint) on). In those analyses we were interested in
detailing the internal and external areas examining
of (1) if middle schools had more
"dangerous" subcontexts (the overall num-
their school (see Astor, Vargas, et al., 1999,
for a detailed description of the mapping ber of subcontexts) and (2) if more specific
procedure). We suspected that students
subcontexts in middle schools were per-
avoided some areas because of fear, even ceived to be dangerous than in elementary
though they may not have knowledge of a schools. For these sets of analyses an array
particular violent event that had occurred of nonparametric statistical analyses (i.e.,
there. We asked students the following chi-squares, Fisher exact tests, and Mann-
question: "Some kids have told us that there Whitney tests) were performed on the sub-
are places in or around their school that contexts that were nominated in middle
they think are unsafe or dangerous. Can and elementary schools.
you show me on your map the places in We also used qualitative methods to bet-
your school that you think are unsafe or ter understand the themes and reasonin
dangerous?" Trained interviewers who students used when nominating the sub
were not aware of the hypotheses of the contexts. Two researchers, both familiar
study explored characteristics of the iden- with the theoretical framework of this study
tified spaces as well as the reasons why stu- (but not familiar with the relevant hypoth-
dents believed these areas were dangerous. eses of the study), independently read the
Examples of follow-up questions included: students' transcripts and calculated the
(a) Are there any areas in your school where most common themes that students men-
kids tend to get into fights (why or why tioned. For these analyses we used Kvale's
not)?; (b) What is it about these areas that (1996) meaning categorization method. We
MAY 2001
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PERCEPTIONS 519
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PERCEPTIONS 521
NOTE.--The category
room, other buildings
mentioned them.
*p < .05.
**p < .01.
***p < .001.
problem in middle schools than in elemen- "Uh, the locker rooms 'cause there
don't need to be no one in there but the
tary schools.
kids and no cameras, no nothing, just the
Table 3 also presents the percentage of kids. And that's when kids fight, and no-
elementary and middle school students body really find out unless you go and
who perceived specific subcontexts within tell, and ain't nobody gonna break it up."
the school to be unsafe. Middle school stu- (Sixth-grade middle school student)
dents were significantly more likely than el-
ementary students to label specific schoolMore elementary than middle school
locations as unsafe. More middle school students nominated the playground as dan-
students identified hallways, bathrooms,The following is a representative re-
gerous.
cafeterias, and locker rooms as unsafe sponse
com- of elementary school students about
pared to elementary students. The follow- playground is unsafe: "Lots of
why the
ing quotations typified the responseskids, lots of kids like to pick on people there
of stu-
while everybody else plays football, and
dents regarding the connection between
violence and subcontexts: they just beat up other people." However,
it should be noted that the middle school
did not have recess and did not use the
"'Cause, there just, everybody beats up
on all kinds of little kids all in the bath- playground area (partially due to a history
room." (Sixth-grade elementary school of violent student behavior during recess).
student)
The findings in Table 4 suggest that
"The place where it would happen
grade level, as a context, also affects stu-
most (a fight) would probably be the big
lunch-the big cafeteria. Most of them dents' perceptions of violence-prone loca-
happen after lunch.... Yeah, when tions within schools. A series of pairwise
everybody can get in a big fight." post-hoc contrasts demonstrated that de-
(Eighth-grade student) pending on the subcontext, students in dif-
"In that hallway. Yeah. 'Cause
ferent grades viewed these areas in dispa-
they-all the kids is in that hallway. Kids
coming from lunch-all the fights start rate ways. For example, eighth graders
coming from lunch." (Fourth-grade stu- were more likely than students in other
dent) grades to nominate cafeterias and hallways
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522 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
Table 5 compares
as unsafe. Another series of how school type
pairwise con
trasts were conducted to determine whether (middle/elementary) was related to sixth
graders' perceptions of violence-prone loca-
the results indicated effects of school type or
grade level. Whereas three contextual effectstions within the school. Results suggested
that sixth graders in middle schools were
(bathrooms, locker rooms, and playgrounds)
were a result of school type, four (basement,more likely to nominate bathrooms, cafete-
cafeteria, halls, and outside) were a result rias,
of and locker rooms as unsafe areas. By
grade level. contrast, sixth graders in elementary schools
Grades
MAY 2001
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PERCEPTIONS 523
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524 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
teachers, in contrast, defined their primary Students in the upper grades could be
recruited
responsibility as within the classroom and to be monitors or conflict manag-
ers to increase the oversight in violence-
perceived their role as teachers to be closely
prone areas. Furthermore, parent and com-
related to their subject specialty. This could
munity volunteers could assist teachers in
be a partial explanation for why elementary
order to better monitor school spaces and
students perceive fewer dangerous subcon-areas that children fear. Teachers could be
texts than do students in middle schools.
assigned to monitor specific areas and co-
Students in elementary schools appear to be
ordinate volunteers with an eye toward
aware of this social dynamic, and their be-
preventing victimization of groups who are
havior may reflect this knowledge. How-
particularly vulnerable within grade levels.
ever, these ideas are preliminary and should
Direct conversations based on the mapping
be explored in future research.
data with the victim and perpetrator groups
Our overall findings suggest that most
on issues such as who to turn to, which pro-
grade-related differences can be explained
cedures to follow, and potential conse-
by school type (elementary/middle) and
quences for harm inflicted in those areas
not by grade level alone. However, there
could also be helpful (Olweus, 1993).
were a few grade-related differences in theMonitoring does not need to take on a
ways students viewed school subcontexts."security" or policing style. We have ob-
Within each setting, a limited set of sub-
served many schools that have created
contexts (in this study cafeterias during
monitoring strategies that improve relation-
lunch and hallways during transitions) ships among students. For example, in one
were differentially perceived by students
school, hallway behavior between transi-
in different grades in elementary and mid-
tions was a problem. To reduce undefined
dle schools. This finding suggests that it is in hallways, teachers agreed to stand
space
possible for students in different grades
into
the doorways of their classrooms and to
MAY 2001
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PERCEPTIONS 525
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526 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL
Note
assessment, and recent practice innovations (pp.
139-171). Washington, DC: National Asso-
ciation of Social Workers Press.
This project and article were supported, inBehre, W. J. (1998). Elementary and middle school
part, by a National Institute of Mental Health teachers' reasoning about intervening in student
grant, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship, violence. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
and a National Academy of Education/Spencer University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Foundation postdoctoral fellowship to the first
Behre, W., Astor, R. A., & Meyer, H. A. (1999,
author. We would like to thank the students
April). Elementary and middle school teachers'
who participated in this study. An earlier ver- reasoning about school violence. Paper pre-
sion of this article was presented at the annual sented at the annual meeting of the Ameri-
meeting of the American Educational Research can Educational Research Association, Mon-
Association, April 19-23, 1999, in Montreal, treal, Quebec, Canada.
Canada. Please send correspondence to Ron Benbenishty, R., Astor, R. A., & Zeira, A. (1998).
Avi Astor, 1080 South University, School of So- A national study of school violence in Israel: Fall
cial Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1998. Jerusalem: Israeli Ministry of Educa-
MI 48109, or e-mail to rastor@umich.edu tion.
Benbenishty, R., Zeira, A., & Astor, R. A. (1999).
A national study of school violence in Israel-
Wave II: Fall 1999. Jerusalem: Israeli Ministry
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