The Causes and Consequences of School Violence: A Review

The multifaceted construct of “school violence” includes a wide variety of acts, such as physical assault and battery, physical aggression, noncontact aggression (e.g., throwing things), broadly defined externalizing behavior, bullying, fighting, robbery, unwanted sexual contact, weapon possession, and verbal threats. Although school violence is on the decline, it remains a significant concern for researchers, policymakers, and the general public. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) commissioned this report, which summarizes the existing evidence on the causes and consequences of school violence, how school violence is conceptualized, and recommendations for future research. The report takes a comprehensive look at the state of the research on school violence and includes additional discussions about research on serious violence and studies that were funded by NIJ’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI). It is based on an empirical review of 341 mean effect sizes from 55 meta-analyses and a supplemental review of the methods and findings of 362 recent research studies.