Segregation and School Violence" DAVID EITLE) Florida International University

While research exploring the consequences of desegregation and resegregation for academic achievement and intergroup attitudesand behavior hasbeen prolific, scant attention has been paid to the impact that school segregation differences has had on school violence. Using data from the state of Florida Department ofEducation and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, we attempt to adjudicate between competing hypotheses about the natureofa relationship between segregation and school violence: (1) that segregation is associated with increased school violence; and (2) that segregation is associated with decreased school violence, especially under conditions of racial inequality. Results from a multilevel analysis show that increased school district segregation has a substantive negative association with school violence, particularly in contexts ofgreater community inequality, consistent with Pettigrew's (1971) observations about the contacthypothesis. The implications of these findings are discussed. Ever since the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, both efforts to desegregate schools and the consequences of such efforts have been the subject of contentious debate among scholars and laypersons alike. Despite the prolific attention paid to the effects of desegregation and busing, with over one hundred studies and counting (Ballantine 2001), we can point to few definitive conclusions. While some research suggests that desegregation is associated with moderate gains in academic achievement for minority students (Mahard & Crain 1983), an increased likelihood of attending college, greater success in finding jobs, and higher incomes (Trent 1997;Wells 1995), other research efforts have found no effect on the achievement levels of black students (St. John 1970; * We would like to acknowledge the Consortium for Educational Research in Florida and it