School Crime: A National Crime Victimization Survey Report

• NCJ Number: 131645
• Date Published: September 1991
• Author(s): L D Bastian; B M Taylor
• Length: 22 pages
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

Data from a special supplement to the national Crime Victimization Survey in the first half of 1989 gathered information on students' perceptions regarding drug availability at school, juvenile gangs at school, fear of crime at school, the school environment, victimization, and efforts to avoid becoming a victim of crime in schools.

Abstract

This BJS report summarizes the responses collected by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) in a special supplement during the first half of 1989. The data represent an estimated 21.6 million students, ages 12 to 19. An estimated 9% of students, ages 12 to 19, were crime victims in or around their school over a 6-month period: 2% reported experiencing one or more violent crimes and 7% reported at least one property crime. Fifteen percent of the students said their school had gangs, and 16% claimed that a student had attacked or threatened a teacher at their school. Nine percent of public school students compared to 36% of private school students reported drugs as impossible to obtain at school. This analysis accounts for crime experienced by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and place of residence as well as selected characteristics of public and private schools, student's grade levels, and security measures.