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Nazhat Rahim
Sociology 4
Professor Alvarardo
April 15, 2016
Predictors of fear Criminal Victimization at School among Adolescent
By David c May and R. George Dunaway
Adolescent crime at school, as well as adolescent fear of crime at school, have
become serious social problem. This study attempts to determine whether predictors of
adolescent fear of crime at school are similar of adult fear of crime. The study used 742
high school students from a Southern State. While the predictors of adolescent fear of
crime were similar to those of adults, there were important differences. Youths with
lower levels of perceived safety at school and youths who perceived their neighborhoods
as exhibiting signs of incivility were more likely to be fearful of criminal victimization at
school. There were important differences between adolescents and adults regarding the
effects of race, gender and victimization experience and fear of crime. Black males were
more fearful than White males, and female victims of crime were more fearful than
females who had not been victimized by crime. Actual criminal victimization, a
significant predictor for adult fear of crime in many studies, did not demonstrate a
significant effect on adolescent fear of crime. Also, socioeconomic status did not affect
adolescent fear. The variable of grade in school was inversely related to fear of crime,
i.e., adolescents were less likely to fear crime as they matriculated through high school.
Method:
The Sample consisted of 742 public high school students (Grades10-12). The responders
were part of the 1977 Mississippi High school Crime Youth Survey, conducted by the
Mississippi Crime and justice Research Unit Social Science Research Center Mississippi
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State University. The data were gathered from the school randomly and students were
administered a survey consisting of items relating to their experience and attitudes with
crime (e.g., criminal victimization and fear of victimization. The response rate was 88.6
percent among students who were eligible to participate within the State of Mississippi.
Dependent Variables:
Fear of Criminal Victimization at School
The most appropriate measures of fear of crime are indices composed of questions asking
responders whether are fearful of crime or afraid of various scenarios. The researchers
used multi-items scale of fear that taps fear of crime in and around the school
environment. Students were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed (coded 6=
strongly agree, 5=agree, 4= somewhat agree, 3=somewhat disagree, 2= disagree, 1=
strongly disagree) with the following statement: “ I am afraid to go to school because I
might become a victim of crime”, I am afraid to attend to school events ( i.e., football
games, dances , etc.) Because of fights”, “There are places at school where I am afraid to
go (i.e., bathroom, cafeteria, gym, etc.) because I might become a victim of crime. The
detectors conducted item analysis using Cronbach’s alpha to determine its reliability. The
construct demonstrated an internal reliability of 708.
Independent Variables:
Gender: was determined by the question “What is your sex?” Males were coded 1 and
females were coded 0. There were 425 females (54.3percent) and 317 males (42.7
percent).
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Race or Ethnic Origin: the responders were asked a question "How do you describe
yourself? .”Race/ethnicity was coded as African American (1) and White (0). There were
316 (42.6 percent) Blacks and 426 (57.4) Whites in the sample.
Economic Status: was determined by the question “In the past 10 years, has your family
received some form of public assistant (such as WIC/ Welfare, or food stamps)” There
were 121 responds who responds affirmably to this question. Those responds who
responds affirmatively were coded 1, and those who did not respond affirmatively were
coded 0.
Grade: was determined by the question “What grade are you currently in?” Tenth
graders were coded 1, 11th graders coded 2, and 12th graders were coded 3. There were
264 10th graders (36.1percent), 229 11th graders (31.3 percent), and 239 12th graders
(32.7 percent).
Criminal Victimization at School: was determined if respondents had ever “had
someone threaten to hurt me at school.” Forty –one percent of (306 respondents)
answered that someone had threatened to hurt them at school. Those who answered
affirmatively were coded 1, and those who responded negatively were coded 0.
Perceived Safety at School: was obtained by examining responses to the statement “I feel
safe from crime at my school.” The students were given a choice between six Likert scale responses ranging from strongly disagree (coded 6) to strongly agree (coded 1).
Students who scored high on the variable thus perceived school environment to be a less
secure environment.
Perceived Neighborhood incivility: was obtained by asking the students to what extent
they agreed or disagreed (coded strongly agree=6; agree=5; somewhat agree=4;
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somewhat disagree =3; disagree=2, and strongly disagree=1) with the following
statement “There are gangs in my neighborhood,” “I feel safe from crime in my
neighborhood,” and “My neighborhood is getting worse and all worse all the time The
detectors conducted item analysis using Cronbach’s alpha to determine its reliability.
The construct demonstrated an internal reliability of .825.
Discussion questions
1- If this study had been done using the opened-ended interviews. It would be
easier or not?
2- If this study had not been done in Mississippi State with Black and white races
and had been done in state such as California with diversity races, would it be
different?
3- What was the weakness of using adolescent from Mississippi high school?