This document discusses crime prevention in high schools. It begins with background information on the rising criminal activities in schools and the need to evaluate the causes to develop effective prevention strategies. The responsibility of various stakeholders like parents, community, and justice system in creating a safe school environment is also discussed. The document then presents the problem statement which is that while security apparatus have been used, crime prevention may involve other factors. It proposes a research study to examine how increases in security levels and stakeholder participation impact crime prevalence in schools. The main research question is about how these independent variables affect the level of high school crime.

1. Running head: CRIME PREVENTION IN HIGH SCHOOLS
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CRIME PREVENTION IN HIGH SCHOOLS
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Crime Prevention in High Schools
Shanee’ N. Ellington
Liberty University
Background
The rising criminal activities in schools have always been an
issue of concern to school management. There is a need for the
school administrators to formulate policies and guidelines that
ensure that the learning institutions are safe and secure for the
students. The causes of crime in schools need to be evaluated
and understood so that appropriate strategy can be put in place
to prevent the adverse effects of the same (Wikström & Treiber,
2017). The Social and environmental nature of the crime needs
to be understood to come up with the appropriate mechanisms
for addressing the problem. The schools must be kept safe, and
a practical approach must be employed since an unsecured
learning environment is the genesis of failure and lack of focus.
Learning environments are supposed to enhance smooth
learning by ensuring that the students enjoy, and vigilance

2. should be the job of everyone. Shortages of such situations
create an atmosphere that is a threat to the security of the
students.
Creating a safe school environment is a responsibility of all the
key players, such as parents, community, and the justice system.
This discussion will investigate the role of these players in
schools and look at the school-based interventions aimed at the
elimination of crimes in schools. Their functions are
specifically motivated by the fact that prevention before the
occurrence of a crime is the most preferred way in the justice
system (Robers, 2015). However, there exist many loopholes
that obscure the attainment of this objective. As a result, many
crimes happen in schools due to inadequate preventative
measures. With clear comprehension and guidelines of juvenile
criminality will be critical in the formulation of proper
intervention strategies and the development of programs that
will prevent crimes in schools.
References
Robers, S. (2015). Indicators of school crime and safety: 2010.
DIANE Publishing.
Wikström, P. O., & Treiber, K. (2017). Beyond risk factors: An
analytical approach to crime
prevention. In Preventing crime and violence, 73-87.
Running head: CRIME PREVENTION IN HIGH SCHOOLS
1
Problem Statement
There have been several factors that have been noticed as being
the leading players behind the prevention of crime in high
school. An example of this is the budgeting towards the security

3. apparatus of the high schools as well as the level of
participation of other stakeholders involved with the various
high schools, for example, the parents’ teachers and the students
themselves (About school crime prevention, n.d). However,
findings have almost found that crime prevention goes beyond
the investment in the security apparatus but instead involve
other variables (Sandahl, 2016). Since as of right now, up to 72
percent of American high schools have some security apparatus
in place to prevent the high school crime which is proving to be
a challenge since the budget for maintaining the equipment
improves to be a burden to most institutions and the government
(Cook, Gottfredson, and Na, 2010). The effects of such
interventions on the students’ behavior by looking at the two
sides of the coin that is whether they motivate or prevent the
students from committing such crimes (Tillyer, Fisher, &
Wilcox, 2011).
The research study looks at the various variables and their
effects on the crime prevention in high school by using the level
of crime prevalence as the dependent variable and the increase
in the security and level of participation of the different
stakeholders as the independent variable. The main aim of the
study was to establish the level of impact the independent
variables have on the prevalence of the level of crime in high
school by measuring the level of incidence of the independent
variables and their subsequent effect using high school statistics
as the primary source of data.
Research Questions
The main research question is, “How does an increase in the
security levels as well as the improved level of participation
lead to the prevalence of the levels of high school crime?”
The other question is, “What are the most effective ways of
decreasing the prevalence of high school crime?”

4. Reference
About school crime prevention. (n.d.). Crime Prevention:
Working Together To Create Safer Schools. Retrieved from
https://troopers.ny.gov/Crime_Prevention/School_Safety/Worki
ng_Together_To_Create_Safer_Schools/
Cook, P., Gottfredson, D., & Na, C. (2010). School Crime
Control and Prevention. Crime and Justice, 39(1), 313-440.
doi:10.1086/652387
Sandahl, J. (2016). School climate and delinquency – on the
significance of the perceived social and learning climate in
school for refraining from offending. Journal of Scandinavian
Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 17(2).
doi:10.1080/14043858.2016.1260335
Tillyer, M. S., Fisher, B. S., & Wilcox, P. (2011). The Effects
of School Crime Prevention on Students’ Violent Victimization,
Risk Perception, and Fear of Crime: A Multilevel Opportunity
Perspective. Justice Quarterly, 28(2), 249-277.
doi:10.1080/07418825.2010.493526