Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Despite much focus on school violence, there has been little research that explores the relationship between offending and victimization in various school climates. School climate theory suggests that the school’s social system, culture, milieu and ecological structure impact student outcomes including academic performance, delinquency and more recently, victimization. Hierarchical analysis of data from 5,037 11th grade students in 33 schools found that offending behavior was the strongest predictor for both minor and more serious forms of victimization. School climate, specifically the social cohesion of schools, reduced serious violent victimization risk. However, school climate did not impact the relationship between offending …

Modern desistance research has examined many facets of desistance, both in terms of theoretical predictors of desistance and recidivism, and in terms of differing types of offending. Though predicting desistance from illegal drug use is among these topics, no research to date has examined the predictors of desisting from prescription opioid abuse. This study uses longitudinal data from 318 prescription opioid users to analyze the effects of various predictors of desistance on declining nonmedical prescription opioid use, with an emphasis on gender differences among participants. Results indicate theoretical and demographic characteristics correspond with differing rates of decline and further vary …

In recent years, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents has been identified as alarmingly common place. Some studies have suggested that more than one in eight adolescents have engaged in self-cutting or other self-injuring behaviors. Even more of a concern is that self-injury often foreshadows suicide or suicide attempts. With self-cutting common in middle and high schools, understanding the antecedents and correlates of such behavior may help counselors and others public health officials identify troubled students and initiate preventative measures. This study utilizes data from 2,639 high school students from the Delaware Youth Risk Behavior Survey to investigate the gender differences …

Throughout the past decade, numerous states have passed legislation to prohibit the sale of violent video games to children, usually in conjunction with an argument that exposure to violent media increases violent behavior. However, the link between video games and violence is not yet fully understood. This study uses propensity score matching as a method to more adequately address the underlying issue of causality. Using a sample of 6,567 8th grade students, these analyses test whether there is a causal link between playing violent video games and violence, non-violent deviance and substance use. Results indicate a substantial decrease in the …

Since Gottfredson and Hirschi’s ‘A General Theory of Crime’ was published in 1990, self-control has become a major focus in criminological theory and research and the issue of measuring self-control has been the topic of many debates. Much of this research has used Grasmick and colleagues’ 1993 attitudinal scale. In 2004, Hirschi provided a new definition for self-control designed to spur new measurements of the concept. Despite this effort, only Piquero and Bouffard (2007) have provided an in-depth attempt to measure the redefined concept. This study replicates the Piquero and Bouffard measurement and a traditional measure of self-control in order …

Analysts argue that the Internet can democratize the construction of social problems and reduce claimsmakers’ dependence on coverage in traditional media. This paper examines Internet claims about the relative sizes of 2010 rallies on the Washington, D.C. National Mall hosted by Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert. Because crowd size is understood to be an index for the popularity of social causes, and because the two rallies were taken to stand for opposing positions in the culture war, numerous advocates offered competing analyses of the crowds’ relative sizes. Analysis of these claims suggests that the Internet offers a forum where …