School Culture, Racial Composition, and Preventing Violence: Evaluating Punitive and Supportive Responses to Improving Safety

Abstract

Research on the impact of school climate and culture on campus violence has yielded some promising responses for improving school safety. Evaluations of school policies and practices have shown that strict discipline and enforcement may have negative consequences and a disparate impact on students of color. Using a sample of 2092 respondents from the 2015–2016 School Survey on Crime and Safety from the Department of Education, the present research assessed the effectiveness of supportive programs and the impact of punitive responses to school violence within predominantly minority schools. Results from this study found that there were more statistically significant supportive policies that were associated with reductions in serious violence and disciplinary actions in predominately minority schools as compared to predominately white schools. Policy and research implications are discussed.