Currently, the US school system experiences difficulties, addressing various crisis situations that occur in the educational establishments of all levels. Regardless of the nature of the crisis, schools have to adapt adequate screening tools to predict the offense. High school crime rates send a concerning message of ineffective intervention and prevention programs used by schools to minimize juvenile delinquency. Close examination of family considerations and challenges in the care of patients affected by the school crisis demonstrates a need for an updated response plan from the crisis team.
Types of Crises in School
Crises that can occur in school are drastically different in terms of nature, severity, and actors involved. The emergencies chosen to be addressed in this paper include the death of a staff member or student, acts of violence, suicide, natural disasters, and assault. After the death of a teacher or student, regardless of the cause, the administration responds to the crisis by announcing the fact of death to staff, student body, and families (Young, Greer, & Church, 2017). Counseling help is usually provided to cope with grief on varying levels. Another crisis in school involves acts of violence, such as fighting, physical abuse, or bullying. Apart from responding to the crisis locally, schools usually report the wrongdoing to the parents, police, and social workers to take preventative measures in the future.
Though frequently ignored, suicide constitutes the third major cluster of school crises. While suicide completion always receives much attention from the school administration and media, suicidal thoughts, as well as actual attempts are often dismissed under the premise of a teenager seeking attention (Young et al., 2017). The risk of natural disasters differs regionally, dependent on the land specialties of the area. Common natural catastrophes include earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, floods, thunderstorms, or wildfire (Young et al., 2017). The crisis response team, formed at school, must address the problem to the faculty members and students, along with specific steps that will happen during the transition period when there is no danger of a natural disaster.
Juvenile Offenders
Characteristics
Complex and multifaceted, juvenile delinquency is strictly individual, with characteristics of young criminals differing from one case to another. Yet, most of the juvenile offenders share the set of following characteristics:
- age;
- gender;
- substance use;
- aggressiveness;
- impulsivity;
- complications during pregnancy and delivery.
The risk of engaging in criminal offense starts increasing in preadolescence, peaking in late adolescence, and gradually reducing through young adulthood (Zajac, Sheidow, & Davis, 2015). Most measures suggest that males are more likely to commit a felony, naturally being more impulsive and aggressive. Substance abuse, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and using drugs, is another concomitant factor of juvenile delinquency.
The main reasoning behind it is that addictions intervene with the individual’s healthy interaction with primary social structures, such as family and peers, resulting in criminal offenses. Finally, individuals with prenatal complications oftentimes have compromised nervous systems which leads to abnormal patterns of behavior (Zajac et al., 2015). It is needed to highlight that this list of characteristics is not conclusive, including only some of the major attributes of juvenile offenders.
Psychological Symptoms
Mental health issues are common in juvenile offenders which rises more challenges in the process of rehabilitating and reintegrating young criminals into society. As explained by Underwood and Washington (2016), adolescents engaged in legal misconduct may exhibit two types of symptoms: emotional and self-regulatory. On the one hand, emotional symptoms, such as anger, physical, sexual, and verbal aggression, are often the first signs of psychotic disorders and disruptive behavior disorders, including ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) or ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). On the other hand, self-regulatory symptoms, such as withdrawal or impulsivity, are linked to mood or anxiety disorders, including depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (Underwood & Washington, 2016). Understanding the link between mental health impairments and juvenile delinquency is vital for the choice of relevant treatment.
Behaviors
Same as characteristics, the behaviors of juvenile offenders may vary dependent on an individual. Most young criminals are reported to demonstrate antisocial behavior, being rejected by their peers or rejecting peer association themselves (Zajac et al., 2015). Another common pattern identified is parental disobedience and rebellious behavior, such as escaping home. Many juvenile offenders have poor academic performance, frequently compensated by violent behavior: fighting, bullying, and sexual assault (Zajac et al., 2015). Adolescents engaged in legal misconduct are also likely to abuse substances, showing signs of addiction.
US School Crime and Incidents in School Statistics
Statistics of school crimes and incidents of violence at US educational establishments call for an urgent response from the administration and authorities. According to Diliberti, Jackson, Correa, and Padgett (2019), throughout the 2017-2018 academic year, US public schools reported over 950 thousand violent incidents, along with approximately 470 thousand nonviolent cases. Nationwide, 71% of institutions had at least one violent incident, followed by 65% of schools reporting nonviolent cases.
More than 66% of schools had at least one fight without a weapon, while 3% of educational establishments reported a physical attack involving a weapon. Approximately 3600 incidents happened due to the possession of an explosive device or firearm at school (Diliberti et al., 2019). In comparison to the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, the number of school incidents grows at an alarming rate.
The distribution of school crimes differs to a great extent, depending on the school’s location. For example, as explained by Diliberti et al. (2019), 44% of schools in towns reported an incident of theft, followed by 36% in the cities, 32% in suburbs, and 29% in rural areas. In comparison, the statistics for vandalism suggest that 40% of crimes happen in the cities with 33% in the suburbs, 31% in towns, and only 27% in the rural areas (Diliberti et al., 2019).
School misconducts also vary, depending on the educational level with primary, middle, or high schools under investigation. For instance, as stated by Diliberti et al. (2019), 28% of middle school students experience physical bullying at least once a week, contrasted to 16% in high school and 9% in elementary schools. The rates for cyberbullying inside and outside of educational establishments are slightly higher: 33% in high school, 30% in middle school, and 5% in primary schools (Diliberti et al., 2019). Situational distribution of crimes and school incidents implies that crisis response teams should put primary focus on the misconducts with the highest risk regionally.
Screening for Potential Offender
Screening for a potential juvenile offender is challenging despite the wide array of screening tools existing. According to Bowser et al. (2018), to identify youth at risk of committing crimes based on poor behavior, educational psychologists may utilize the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-2 BESS) and Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT). If the administration suspects substance abuse, Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory – Adolescent Version (SASSI-A2) and Detection of Alcohol and Drug Problems in Adolescents (DEP-ADO) are applied.
Other risk assessment tools include Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory – Screening Version (YLS/CMI-SV), Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS), Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument – Pre-Screen Version (YASI) (Bowser et al., 2018). Difficulties associated with screening for potential offenders involve issues in self-reporting, biases, and deliberate deceit.
Responding to the Offense
Crisis Worker
One of the most popular responses of the crisis worker to juvenile delinquency follows the SAFER-R model. The SAFER-R model stands for stabilizing, acknowledging, facilitating, encouraging, recovering, and referring (Gagnon, Barber, & Soyturk, 2018). The crisis worker is primarily responsible for stabilizing the threat of the juvenile offender, acknowledging the presence of misconduct, and lowering the risk of immediate harm. When the situation is stable, the crisis worker should encourage the young criminal to stop the wrongdoing, providing recovering resources and referring him/her for further assistance depending on the felony.
School
School response to juvenile delinquency is a delicate matter, involving much patience, precision, and understanding of the individual situation by the administration. It is essential to understand that school is not a part of the judicial system, thus, cannot enforce legal measures as ways to address school crimes. Instead, school executes crisis management as a social system with the help of a trained social worker, psychologist, staff, and faculty members (Kruger et al., 2018).
This student care team decides how to deal with the exhibited deviant behavior on an individual basis. Usually, the first signs of deviant behavior are not reported to the social services or police, as school personnel attempts to resolve the issue independently, working closely with the juvenile offender and his/her family. When the chosen measures prove to be inadequate to prevent further misconduct, the school administration reports the issue to the social services or local police.
Intervention and Prevention Programs
If implemented effectively, early intervention and prevention programs can minimize instances of substance use, juvenile delinquency, acts of violence, and other deviant behavior at school. Gagnon et al. (2018) emphasized the significance of social competence promotion curriculums, classroom and behavior management programs, and multi-component classroom-based programs. The study showed that high engagement at school and extracurricular activities are negatively correlated with high crime rates (Gagnon et al., 2018). Therefore, schools should invest more in afterschool recreation programs and school organization programs. In addition, integrating conflict resolution and violence prevention strategies in school curriculums significantly lower instances of student deviant behavior. Mentoring programs and comprehensive community interventions can also be used as an effective way of preventing juvenile delinquency.
Other Considerations
Management of Behaviors
Deviant behaviors should be managed with strict adherence to the school-established protocol, outlining the possible steps, intervention procedures, and support arrangements. Before applying intervention and prevention measures, crisis response workers should always verify the information and notify the school supervisor about the misconduct and people involved. Offenders, victims, and witnesses should all be reported to gather the most relevant information on the subject matter. After the collection of data, the school crisis team is responsible for arranging intervention and support among the student body.
Possible ways of managing the situation include group counseling, evaluation meetings, or public announcements of news. Special class periods and brief class meetings can be dedicated to the in-depth discussion of the issue with early intervention and preventative measures integrated into the agenda. Individual counseling sessions may be offered to victims of the school crisis in an attempt of relieving stress, coping with grief, and lose associated with the occurred incident.
Close attention should also be given to the dissemination of news to parents via emails, parent conferences, and phone conversations. Response to the media is another important cluster of managing crisis behavior. Proper public appearance with an objective factual presentation of the situation should be established. Finally, if none of the management behaviors appears appropriate for the given incident, schools should report the incident immediately to the referral agencies. Police, mental health institutions, hospitals, and social services are some of the few referral agencies working to support the well-being of those involved in a school crisis.
Family Considerations
When approaching students affected by the crisis either in a form of a victim or an offender, it is important to consider family factors. Understanding the link between the social background of an individual and his/her behavior is vital for the choice of relevant treatment. Chronic alcoholism and drug addictions appear specifically harmful for the potential juvenile offender, as studies show a definite link between substance use in parents and children (Manzoni & Schwarzenegger, 2019).
Another significant aspect to take into account is the history of criminal misconduct in the family. The likelihood of a young person’s involvement in legal offenses rises with the criminal background of the immediate family members (Manzoni & Schwarzenegger, 2019). Also, when assessing the proper course of treatment in case of health impairments, healthcare practitioners should analyze the health history and relationships between the family members before the crisis occurred. Both physical conditions and mental health diseases should be evaluated thoroughly to determine the potential causes and consequences of the crisis.
Challenges in the Care of Patients
Caring for patients recovering from a school crisis comes with a wide array of challenges. According to Kataoka et al. (2018), it is of utmost importance to apply the trauma-informed approach when treating individuals involved in school crimes or violent incidents. Most of the students hospitalized after such traumatic experiences exhibit signs of anxiety, depression, fear, and lack of trust in the authorities. When choosing a proper course of treatment, it is essential to account for the limited sense of safety, temporary paranoid fears of repetitive attacks, and sleep deprivation that accompany the rehabilitation process (Kataoka et al., 2018). Despite the aforementioned complications, empathy and individual nursing approach substantially increase patients’ chance for rapid recovery.
Conclusion
In conclusion, crisis management constitutes one of the key areas of comprehensive involvement of staff/faculty, social workers, and parents in the US school system. A wide array of crisis types requires an individual approach applied under the careful investigation of situational variables, characteristics, psychological symptoms, and behaviors of juvenile offenders. Alarming statistics rate of school crimes and incidents of deviant behavior calls for immediate early intervention and prevention programs, aimed at rehabilitating the offender and reintegrating him into society.
Available screening tools allow schools to predict the potential young criminal and form a relevant response from the crisis worker and administration, serving in the best interest of the community. Crisis response accounts for family considerations and challenges in the care of patients affected by the wrongdoings at school. A holistic approach to the issue leaves hope that rates of juvenile delinquency will decrease substantially for few years with the collective effort of US school and judicial systems.
References
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