School violence : a critical review of Canadian and American studies

School violence in Canada and the United States is a topic of public and media concern following several recent shocking incidents of student killings by their classmates in Canada and the United States. This thesis reviews and critically evaluates Canadian and American studies of school violence. Published reports and studies are used as the source of data. The main focus for evaluating the studies is an in-depth analysis of the conceptual frameworks and elements of the research. This includes determining whether the studies defined their terms and solicited information concerning the seriousness of incidents reported, such as the nature and severity of injuries. Exemplary studies are pointed out as models for future research on school violence. It is difficult to assess levels of school violence in Canada based on the studies reviewed in this thesis. Canadian national studies of violent crime and victimization of students in elementary and high schools have not been conducted to date. The fact that most of the Canadian studies are flawed by poor conceptual analysis makes the results questionable. Many Canadian and American studies lack clear definitions of the conceptual elements of the research, both in the research reports and the questionnaires administered to subjects. Most Canadian and American studies do not solicit information concerning the seriousness of incidents (e.g., aggravated assault versus simple assault) or the severity of injury resulting from violent crime (e.g., whether the injuries sustained were severe or minor). Furthermore, most studies do not measure whether victims suffered injuries. A few American studies demonstrate good conceptual analysis. Those studies show that school-related homicides are extremely rare events and that simple assault appears to be the most prevalent type of violence among American students and the most common school violence problem facing America.