Acts of Violence in the School Setting

Kimberly A. McCabe, PhD, is the director of the Center for Community Development and Social Justice and professor of Criminology at the University of Lynchburg. McCabe has been an expert witness in law enforcement policies and procedures, child abuse, school violence, human trafficking and equity/parity/discrimination of employment in criminal justice and public safety agencies. She has also acted as a consultant to state and local agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom on design, implementation, and evaluation of criminal justice and public safety programs. She has authored many books and articles on child abuse, sex trafficking, and violence, including Protecting Your Children Online: What You Need to Know About Online Threats to Your Children (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), Sex Trafficking: A Global Perspective (Lexington Books, 2010), and The Trafficking of Persons: National and International Responses (2008).

• Preface Chapter 1: A History of School ViolenceChapter 2: Bullying and CyberbullyingChapter 3: Cliques and Gangs within the School EnvironmentChapter 4: School Shootings and Media PerceptionsChapter 5: Mental Illness and School ViolenceChapter 6: Warning Factors and Teachers’ PerceptionsChapter 7: Adult OffendersChapter 8: Violence in Higher EducationChapter 9: Controlling the School Environment: Criminal Justice Responses

Lead author McCabe (criminology, Univ. of Lynchburg) has written a reader-friendly text for undergraduates in courses on criminology and criminal justice. She examines violent crimes within educational settings—from kindergarten to universities—as well as the foundational acts that led to these crimes. Taking a broad approach, she considers acts that range from bullying, gang violence, and sexual assault to hazing, cyberstalking, and sexting. Focusing primarily on school shootings, the author's perspective is primarily national, centered on the US. She also includes current research and examples at the international level, looking at Canada, the UK, and Western European countries. In particular, the study uses the massacres at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech in the US and at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland as paradigmatic cases. Each chapter contains special features that include a listing of key words and key acronyms, shaded boxes with case examples, and chapter and discussion questions. This volume adds to the literature on school violence in several key ways, particularly by considering theoretical explanations, risk factors, mental illness, preventive measures, and victim assistance. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All undergraduates and professionals.