Reducing Crime and Conflict in Kentucky's Schools

• Author: Robert McNamara,Dennis Jay Kenney
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204002238363
• Published date: 01 January 2003
• Date: 01 January 2003
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/1541204002238363articleYouth Violence and Juvenile JusticeKenney, McNamara / REDUCING CRIME AND CONFLICT

REDUCING CRIME AND CONFLICT

IN KENTUCKY’S SCHOOLS

Dennis Jay Kenney

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Robert McNamara

Furman University

Reacting to concerns about crime and fear in their schools, staff of the Kentucky

Regional Community Policing Institute introduced, during the 2000 to 2001 academic

year, a pilot effort at student-led problem solving. Conducted in six Kentucky high

schools, this effort was intended to determine if student-based efforts could improve

quality of life on school campuses while increasing students’ sense of empowerment and

school commitment. The project’s evaluation identified problems of implementation and

offers recommendations to strengthen future efforts.

Since the recent tragedies in Paducah, Kentucky; Springfield, Oregon; Columbine,

Colorado; and Jonesboro, Arkansas, school crime and violence have become a source of

concern for educators, administrators, researchers, and law enforcement officers across the

nation. The images of the tragedy at Columbine High School remain vivid as we struggle to

make schools safe learning environments for our children. Although the specter of school

violence is usually seen as an inner-city problem, more recent evidence suggests that all

schools wrestle with this important phenomenon. For example, according to the National

Center for Education Statistics (1999), high school seniors from metropolitan and

nonmetropolitan areas were equally likely to report being victimized at school. Sadly,

despite general declines in the occurrence of school crime during the 1990s, surveys suggest

that students, teachers, and police have pessimistic outlooks for the future (Metropolitan

Life Survey, 1999), with more than 28% of students, 23% of teachers, and 30% of law

enforcement officials expressing the belief that violence in our schools will increase during

the next 2 years.

In response to these concerns, a variety of programs have been developed to address

the problems of crime and violence in our schools. Among the promising approaches

proposed is a student-based problem-solving model that requires students, teachers, and

police to work collaboratively to identify and reduce school crime and fear (see Kenney &

Watson, 1998, for a summary). Although the model was originally designed to assist police

officers in their efforts to work collaboratively with members of the larger community to

solve quality of life problems (Eck & Spelman, 1987), success has already been achieved in

adapting a version of this problem-oriented policing model to the school environment

(Kenney & Watson, 1998).

46

Youth Violence and Junenile Justice: An Interdisciplinary Journal (YVJJ), Vol. 1 No. 1, January 2003 46-63

DOI: 10.1177/1541204002238363

© 2003 Sage Publications

During the 2000 to 2001 academic year, six Kentucky high schools were selected to

test variations of the school-based problem-solving model. The objective of the project was

to determine if student-based problem solving could improve quality of life on school

campuses while simultaneously increasing students’ sense of empowerment and school

commitment. This article highlights the findings of those efforts.1

The Model for School-Based Problem Solving

The overarching goal of school-based problem solving is to attack specific crime,

disorder, and fear-related problems using the resources of the school, students, faculty, and

local police. Although the problem-solving process is quite straightforward and can be

easily applied in a structured classroom setting, some preliminary advice is nonetheless

appropriate.

We know from previous efforts that the process of structuring student problem-

solving groups is an important component that influences later group cohesiveness and

effectiveness (Bednar & Kaul, 1978; Corder, Haizlip, Whiteside, & Vogel, 1980; Kenney &

Watson, 1998). Generally, less structure is required if the group is judged to be

interpersonally skilled (Bednar & Kaul, 1978), whereas more structure will be necessary if

the group is not as sophisticated interpersonally. Obviously, the amount of structure needed

should be decided by the group leader (i.e., teacher) as each student group is formed. In

either case, group structuring should include a process where guidelines for acceptable

behavior are decided by group members prior to beginning the actual problem-solving

process. This allows group members to feel ownership of the guidelines governing their

behavior.

Prior to beginning problem solving, each group leader should first outline the purpose

and function of each group. This helps group members orient their behavior to the process

of solving school-related problems while decreasing the probability of non-task-related

behaviors. Of course, prior to the introduction of the problem-solving classes, participating

teachers should work to develop their group leadership skills, their methods of giving

appropriate feedback, and their understanding of problem-solving behaviors.

The degree of support that each group receives will weigh heavily in determining

outcome. As we will see, in this effort, support from the administration, teachers, and school

resource police was uneven and inconsistent—two factors that we believe were important to

the results achieved. But first, let us review the steps involved in the problem-solving

process.

Problem identification. During the initial problem identification stage, group

participants identify and discuss various school issues—determining which are to be

considered problems appropriate for further work. Issues of interest might be as diverse as

vandalism, the availability of drugs, physical attacks in restrooms, or the lighting and

general accessibility of campus facilities.

In this phase, group members are responsible for collecting information about

perceived problems in the school environment. Their own knowledge, along with official

records and interviews with teachers, administrators, parents, other students, and the police,

may each be useful. Group members then present their findings, and the group decides

which problems require further consideration and how they should be prioritized. Problems

Kenney, McNamara / REDUCING CRIME AND CONFLICT 47