Schools and neighborhoods: organizational and environmental factors associated with crime in secondary schools.

BACKGROUND: While crime and violence in schools are derived primarily from factors external to schools, violent behavior may also be aggravated by factors in the school environment, including the physical environment, its educational and social climate, and its organizational capacity and composition. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of the school's organizational and educational environment on crime rates in secondary schools and to examine how neighborhood factors influence these relationships. METHODS: School and neighborhood crime rates for 95 middle (MS) and high (HS) schools were calculated using data from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department, respectively. School-level organizational and educational variables, including the academic performance index (API), were obtained from the California Department of Education. A measure of neighborhood dilapidation was created using variables collected on a neighborhood environmental survey. Linear regression was used to examine the relationship between organizational and educational school variables and school crime rates. Community crime and dilapidation were added to the model to examine the influence of the school-community context relationships. RESULTS: HS had higher crime rates than MS. As the percentage of certified teachers and student to staff ratios increased, school crime decreased (p < .01). An API of below basic performance was significantly associated with increasing school crime rates (p < .05). Neighborhood crime was not significantly associated with school crime, although dilapidation was positively and significantly associated with school crime even after controlling for community crime (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Both school- and neighborhood-level factors were associated with increasing crime rates in secondary schools. School violence prevention efforts should include school and community partnerships to address these potentially modifiable factors.

Injuries to the head among children enrolled in special education.

BACKGROUND: Injuries to the head comprise 20% to 39% of all school-related injuries. Head injuries among special education students have not been adequately described. OBJECTIVES: (1) To examine the incidence and characteristics of head injuries in children enrolled in special education and (2) to determine the factors that increase the risk of sustaining a head injury compared with an injury to another part of the body. METHODS: Pupil Accident Reports for 6769 students enrolled in 17 of 18 special education schools in 1 large urban school district during the academic years 1994-1998 were reviewed, and information on the nature of injury, external cause, and activity was abstracted. Head-injured and nonhead-injured cases were identified and compared by race, sex, age, characteristics of injury, and disability category. RESULTS: Six hundred ninety-seven injury events were reported during the 4-year study period. The overall injury rate was 4.7 injuries per 100 student-years. Two hundred five children (29.4%) sustained injuries to the head, and the rate of head injury was 1.3 injuries per 100 student-years. Falls were the leading cause of injury. Head injuries were most commonly associated with physical education and unstructured play and usually occurred on the playground. Disproportionately more head than nonhead injuries were sustained in the classroom (12% vs 8%) and the bathroom (9% vs 3%). Compared with children with emotional/mental disabilities, children with multiple disabilities had the highest risk of a head injury (incidence density ratio, 2.4 [95% confidence interval, 1.6-3.5]), followed by children with physical disabilities (incidence density ratio, 1.8 [95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.1]). There appeared to be no significant difference in the rate of head injury by sex and age. CONCLUSIONS: Modifications of the classroom, bathroom, and playground environments might reduce the risk of head injuries in children enrolled in special education. Special modifications and increased supervision may, in particular, reduce the risk of head injury for children with physical and multiple disabilities.

Comparing unintentional and intentional injuries in a school setting.

This study determined the incidence of violence-related injuries in an urban school district, and compared characteristics of unintentional and intentional school injuries. A sample of student Accident Report Forms completed for a school district in 1997 were reviewed for demographic characteristics of the student and injury characteristics. Injuries were categorized as unintentional, intentional, or of unknown intent. Annual incidence rates of injury per 100 students were calculated by intention, grade, and gender. Comparisons between unintentional and intentional injuries were made using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Of 11,674 annualized injuries, 77.2% were unintentional, 16.8% were intentional, and 6.0% were of unknown intent. The overall annualized injury rate was 1.74 injuries per 100 students/year. The unintentional injury rate was almost five times the intentional injury rate of 0.29 injuries per 100 students/year. High school students had both the highest unintentional and intentional injury rates. Males in all grade levels had the highest rates of injury. Most injuries occurred during school hours. Intentional injuries were almost three times more likely to be associated with unstructured play or after school playground hours; were less likely to be witnessed events; and were more likely to occur on the surrounding school grounds than unintentional injuries. Unintentional injuries represent a greater risk to school children than do intentional injuries. A potential area to focus interventions for intentional injuries are modifications of the school environment and surrounding grounds to improve supervision and monitoring.