This monograph is written to help school administrators and policy makers, in addressing the question of safe schools, separate analytically what is "school" and what is "society" in order to better understand the real span of the school's control. The central question is: what are the characteristics of safe and effective school systems and what can schools do to become safer and to be perceived as safe? A social organization model of the public schools is provided which examines: (1) the school as mandatory service provider; (2) school crime and the local community; (3) school crime and the school itself--its physical and social structures, its social functions, and its learning climate. A typology of safe and sound schools is outlined, offering profiles of problem schools, opportunistic schools, maverick schools, and ritualistic schools. Within a framework provided by effective schools research and delinquency prevention research, current disciplinary practices are analyzed in terms of: (1) system-wide policies and programs that change individual students; (2) strategies that change the students by changing the organization's school-based practices; and (3) what works in juvenile justice. A strategy for organizational change, based on the practices discussion, is then offered. And finally, a detailed administrative observation instrument is provided for use in evaluating the instructional effectiveness of a school or rehabilitative program. (RDN)