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ERIC Number: EJ1224186
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Sep
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0044-118X
EISSN: N/A
Misperceiving a Code of Silence: Peer Support for Telling Authorities about Weapons at School among Middle School and High School Students in the United States
Perkins, Jessica M.; Perkins, H. Wesley; Craig, David W.
Youth & Society, v51 n6 p814-839 Sep 2019
This study explores misperceptions about peer norms in support of telling authorities about weapons at school and whether perceptions predict personal support for telling authorities. Anonymous surveys were conducted among youth in 30 schools (Grades 5-12) in six states (n = 12,903) between 2006 and 2014. Personal support for telling principals, teachers/counselors, police/security, and parents, separately, about weapons at school was measured as well as perception of peers' support for telling authorities. Most students in most schools personally thought that students should tell authorities about weapons. However, depending on the authority, 37% to 52% of students mistakenly believed that most students did not support students telling authorities. Regression analysis revealed that perceiving support for telling authorities as normative among peers was highly predictive of personal support--much more so than other predictors. Thus, misperceptions of the peer norm as a code of silence may contribute to the problem of weapons at school.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Arizona; Idaho; Indiana; New Jersey; New York; Maine
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A