Junior high school students' experiences and perceptions of school violence, explorations and implications

grantor: University of TorontoThe present study was focused on exploring the relationship between the prior victimization experiences and subsequent sexual offences of male adolescent sexual offenders. A specific focus was included regarding the relationship between various characteristics of prior sexual victimization and both penetration and physical force in sexual offences. A total of 180 male participants ranging in age from 12 to 19 were included in this study. A series of chi-square analyses was employed to investigate the relationship between various victimization characteristics and two specific sexual offence variables of interest: Penetration and Physical Force. A relationship was discovered between prior sexual abuse and both penetration and physical force in offences, prior physical abuse and physical force in offences, prior emotional abuse and penetration in offences, and the duration of sexual victimization and physical force in offences. In addition, the relationships between specific sexual acts in the victimization and offences were investigated with significant relationships discovered for vaginal penetration in victimization and offending and anal/vaginal penetration in victimization and offending. Findings also indicated that two or more types of prior victimization might be of importance in male adolescents' commission of intrusive and forceful sexual offences, and that the sexual offences that are committed by male adolescents can be highly intrusive, forceful, and comprised of a variety of sexual acts. A series of exploratory analyses using the ERASOR 2.0 suggested that prior sexual victimization, physical victimization, and neglect might be important in clinicians' ratings of sexual offence recidivism. It was suggested that the results of this investigation are consistent with a social learning/cognitive approach. Future directions were recommended regarding the use of posttreatment information rather than pretreatment information in investigations regarding male adolescent sexual offenders' offence characteristics. It was also indicated that, given both the limitations and the findings of the present investigation, further exploration is necessary regarding both the specificity of the victim-to-victimizer phenomenon and the sexual intrusiveness and forcefulness involved in the sexual offences committed by previously victimized male adolescent sexual offenders., The present study investigated junior high school students' experiences and perceptions of school violence. A total of 95 grade 7, 8, & 9 students (45 male, 50 female) from a City of Toronto junior high school completed a questionnaire entitled "Student Perceptions and Experiences of Violence Questionnaire". Students of both sexes & all 3 grades reported similar perceptions of, experiences of, participation in, and willingness to participate in school violence. Differences between reported rates of violence experienced and perceived levels of school violence & safety prompted the suggestion that students' perceptions of the extent of school violence and their safety at school may be impacted as much by their interpretations of violence as by their actual experiences of violence. An integration of principles form ecological, identity, & appraisal theories was recommended and a framework involving stressors, skills, & supports was proposed for understanding, investigating, and intervening in how students form their perceptions of school violence.M.A