DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37999.v1
title: Understanding the Impact of School Safety on the High School Transition Experience: From Etiology to Prevention, Flint, Michigan, 2016
title: Version 1

description: This is a multi-method study of school violence and victimization during the transition to high school. This study has two major data collection efforts. First, a full population survey of 7th through 10th grade students across 10 Flint Community Schools (fall 2016) -- which serve primarily African American and poor populations -- that will identify patterns of student victimization, including the location and seriousness of violent events, and examine the connections between school and community violence. This will be followed by a three-wave panel qualitative study of 100 students interviewed every 6 months beginning in the spring of their 8th grade year (spring 2017) and continuing through their 9th grade year. The goal of the interviews will be to further the research from the survey and develop a deeper understanding of how school safety impacts the transition experience, school violence, including how communities conflict impacts school safety, and what youth do to protect themselves from school-related victimization. Researchers integrated crime incident data from the Flint police department as a source for triangulation of findings. A community workgroup will provide guided translation of findings generated from mixed-methods analyses, and develop an action plan to help students successfully transition to high school. Results and policy implications will be given to practitioner, researcher, and public audiences through written, oral, and web-based forums. De-identified data will be archived at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.
description: The purpose of the current project was to garner a better understanding of the causes and consequences of school violence, especially as these factors relate to the transition into high school. The current study surveyed youth to identify patterns of violence exposure and victimization among youth who were within two years of transitioning to a new school. In particular, this study sought to identify the prevalence and seriousness of polyvictimization among youth, and determine the distribution of resiliency factors across the student population.
description: A cross-sectional survey was administered to students in grades 5 through 7 in participating schools. The surveys included a host of items related to attitudes and emotions related to school safety, as well as measures of both lifetime and recent experiences with victimization across school and neighborhood contexts. Measures of victimization and exposure to crime and violence were drawn from national surveys of youth experiences with polyvictimization (Finkelhor et al., 2011) to allow for broader comparisons of youth from the Flint, MI area and the United States as a whole. Surveys were administered by the research team in the classroom setting to ensure consistent data collection processes were followed and to maintain respondent confidentiality given the sensitive nature of the data. Each question was read aloud to the participants who were then given time to answer accordingly.
description: The variables include student survey responses on school violence, community violence, family life, drug use, and some demographic data.
description: none
description: Response Rates: Parental consent was provided for 329 of the 730 eligible students, for an affirmative active consent rate of just over 45 percent. Just under 5 percent of parents refused to allow their child to participate, while roughly 50 percent of youth did not return a signed form.
description: Datasets: DS1: Understanding the Impact of School Safety on the High School Transition Experience: From Etiology to Prevention, Flint, Michigan, 2016
description: 7th through 10th grade students across 10 Flint Community Schools. Smallest Geographic Unit: city
description: face-to-face interviewThis release includes the quantitative data collected from student surveys in Fall 2016. The qualitative data referenced in the summary will be included in a later release.