Ann Marie Popp

Routine Activities and Victimization at School: The Significance of Gender

Routine activities theory has not fully considered the role of gender in shaping victimization and yet, the research literature clearly demonstrates that gender is associated with an individual’s risk of victimization. In addition to the pervasive effect of gender on victimization, gender shapes an individual’s daily routines and thus may create a gender-specific relationship with victimization. This article explores the importance of gender in understanding the relationship between student’s participation in extracurricular routine activities (e.g., student government, clubs, sports, and etc.) and the risk of victimization. From the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, a sample of 10th-grade students was drawn for analyses. Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling was employed to explore the role of gender in the relationship between extracurricular routine activities and victimization at school. The results reveal that students’ gender indeed interacts with several of the extracurricular routine activities creating gender-specific risks of victimization. This article highlights the importance of gender in explaining victimization and suggests researchers should consider how gender may interact with other routine activities and victimization.

Social Bonds and the Role of School-Based Victimization

This study explores the impact of school-based victimization on the adolescent’s social bond. Previous research has provided empirical support for Hirschi’s social control theory that the strength of the adolescent’s social bond is associated with the probability that he or she will engage in criminal offending. However, research identifying what factors influence the strength of the adolescent’s social bond is limited. In addition, research has established that school-based victimization is associated with numerous negative outcomes, including diminished educational outcomes and criminal offending. Therefore, it is plausible that school-based victimization undermines the adolescent’s social bonds to school. Using a sample of 10th-grade students from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, HLM models were developed to explore the relationship between school-based victimization and the adolescent’s social bond to school. The results suggest that school-based victimization has a negative association with three elements of the adolescent’s social bond to school: attachment, commitment, and belief. This study demonstrates the need for further research to identify the determinants of the strength of the adolescent’s social bond to school.

Social Control Theory and School Misbehavior: Examining the Role of Race and Ethnicity

Social control theory has been successfully utilized to investigate and explain school misbehavior; however, only a few studies have focused on the complex role of race and ethnicity. With a diverse and growing racial and ethnic minority population, exploring whether race and ethnicity moderate the relationship between social control theory and school misbehavior is warranted. This study utilizes data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, a nationally representative sample of 10th-grade students, to examine whether the relationship between social control theory and school misbehavior varies by race and ethnicity. The findings suggest that the relationship between elements of the social bond and school misbehavior varies across racial and ethnic groups. This study discusses the importance of focusing on race and ethnicity in criminological research as the United States becomes increasingly diverse.

Race, Ethnicity, and School-Based Adolescent Victimization:

Opportunity theory enhances one’s understanding of school-based adolescent victimization. Race and ethnicity plays a significant role in school-based victimization. What is uncertain is how opportunity is linked to the school-based victimization of racial and ethnic minority adolescents. This study explores how race and ethnicity interact with opportunity and victimization. Analyses, which are drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and employ hierarchal generalized logistic model analyses, suggest some important results. Most notably, the relationships between opportunity and victimization vary across racial and ethnic groups. For instance, athletic extracurricular activity involvement is an insulating factor for White Americans but a potential risk factor for Latino Americans and Asian Americans. Besides discussing the findings of this study, this article underscores the importance of understanding racial and ethnic minority school-based adolescent victimization.

The Effects of Exposure, Proximity, and Capable Guardians on the Risk of Bullying Victimization:

Bullying victimization in school is a significant social problem, which has been linked to serious, detrimental, lifelong consequences for its victims. Therefore, it is imperative that we understand the factors that shape the student’s risk of bullying victimization. This study utilizes opportunity theory, more specifically student’s exposure and proximity to motivated offenders and crime-prone environments and the school’s guardianship efforts, to explain student’s risk of bullying victimization. The study employs data drawn from the 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey School Crime Supplement. Logistic regression models were analyzed to explore whether the student’s risk of bullying victimization was influenced by the measures of exposure and proximity and guardianship. The study provides empirical support for opportunity theory; the student’s exposure and proximity to motivated offender and crime-prone environments and the school’s guardianship efforts were associated with the student’s risk of experiencing bullying victimization while at school. The implications of the study’s findings for bullying victimization research and opportunity theory are discussed.

Punishing the Children of Immigrants: Race, Ethnicity, Generational Status, Student Misbehavior, and School Discipline

Using segmented assimilation theory, this study examines whether the children of immigrants’ experiences with being disciplined at school are disproportionate. This study draws from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and utilizes multilevel techniques to analyze the relationships between race, ethnicity, generational status, misbehavior, and school discipline. Findings reveal that Black/African American second- and third-plus generation as well as Latina/o American third-plus generation youth have increased odds of being disciplined despite having similar levels of misbehavior as their White American peers. The implications of the racial and ethnic, as well as generational, disparities in school discipline practices are discussed.

Breaking Stereotypes and School Punishment: Family Socioeconomic Status, Test Scores, Academic and Sport Activities, Backlash, and Racial and Ethnic Discipline Disparities

The disproportionate punishment of racial and ethnic minority adolescents is a serious problem within schools. Few studies, however, consider factors outside of school misbehavior that may moderate this relationship. This study extends research on this topic by considering whether stereotypes moderate the school punishment of racial and ethnic minorities. This study utilizes multilevel modeling techniques to examine whether and how stereotypes based on family socioeconomic status, test scores, and school-based activities moderate racial and ethnic minority adolescents’ odds of being punished. Adolescents who do not conform to racial and ethnic stereotypes are more likely to be punished. The findings that suggest that stereotypes may be linked to increased school punishment for racial and ethnic minorities are discussed.

School-Based Activities, Misbehavior, Discipline, and Racial and Ethnic Disparities.

School-based discipline can negatively shape the educational outcomes of students, particularly for racial and ethnic minorities. Because racial and ethnic minority youth are at risk for educational failure and marginalized within schools, academic and sport extracurricular activities are often presented as a means to ameliorate educational risk factors. Little is known, however, about the relationship between involvement in these activities and school-based discipline, particularly for racial and ethnic minority youth. This study uses data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and incorporates multilevel modeling techniques to examine whether the relationship between academic and sport extracurricular activities, misbehavior, and school-based discipline varies by race and ethnicity. This study suggests that while academic and sport extracurricular activities reduce the likelihood of school-based discipline for White students, the relationships for racial and ethnic minority are complex. The implications of the racial and ethnic disparity in school-based discipline in the United States are discussed.

Social Control and Intersectionality: A Multilevel Analysis of School Misconduct, Location, Race, Ethnicity, and Sex

Adolescent violence and misconduct, especially within schools, is a top sociological and educational concern because of the detrimental effects on adolescent physical health, emotional well-being, and educational progress. Concurrently, public schools in the United States are in the midst of a demographic transformation. More importantly, prior research suggests contextual characteristics are associated with rates of deviant behavior particularly in urban areas where racial and ethnic minorities reside. What remains uncertain, however, is the relationship between social control, intersectionality, and school misconduct. This study utilizes data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and incorporates multilevel modeling techniques to examine how the link between social control and adolescent school misconduct may differ by race, ethnicity, and biological sex in urban, rural, and suburban locations. The results suggest intersectionality may matter when understanding the associations between social control and school misconduct. The implications of how intersectionality may matter in social control are discussed.