Understanding Student Violence on Campus: Statistics, Prevention, and Resources
Violence on college and university campuses is a multifaceted issue that demands attention and proactive strategies. While perceptions of school safety may be skewed by high-profile incidents, a comprehensive look at available data reveals trends and nuances crucial for effective prevention and response. This article examines various forms of student violence, from sexual assault to hate crimes, utilizing statistical data and legal frameworks to provide a thorough understanding of the challenges and potential solutions.
Trends in School Violence: A Statistical Overview
Despite the perception that schools are becoming increasingly dangerous, nationally available data on trends in violence and victimization at school reveal that levels of overall violence declined from 1992 to 2017. However, incidents of multiple-victim youth homicides in schools started declining in 1994 but have been increasing since 2009. This increase in multiple-victim, school-associated deaths is a key factor in the public's perception of increased danger.
Key Data Sources and Findings
Several data sources provide insights into the state of school violence:
School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): According to the latest SCS data collected in 2017, being the victim of a violent crime at school is rare. About 1% of students surveyed reported experiencing a violent victimization in the six months prior to survey completion, and less than 0.5% reported a serious violent victimization. Serious violent victimizations include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.
School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS): According to the latest available SSOCS data, 71% of schools reported at least one incident of a violent crime during the 2017-2018 school year. This number seems to be decreasing - 66% of public schools recorded physical attacks or fights without a weapon in 2017-2018 compared with 71% in 2009-2010.
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School-Associated Violent Deaths Surveillance System (SAVD-SS): The trends from July 1994 through June 2016 indicate that, on average, school-associated violent deaths accounted for less than 3% of all youth homicides in the United States consistently throughout this time frame. From 1994 to 2016, there were approximately 423 school-associated homicide incidents, including 393 single-victim incidents and about 30 multiple-victim incidents.
These data sources indicate that students are not often the victims of violent and serious violent crime in schools, and these trends have been decreasing since 2001. Physical bullying victimization has also been on a downward trend since 2009-2010. However, one indicator has been increasing: multiple-victim associated deaths at schools.
The School Shooting Database (SSDB)
To address the knowledge gap regarding multiple-victim homicides, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded researchers to create an open-source database for tracking shootings on K-12 school grounds. This database, known as the School Shooting Database (SSDB), includes all publicly known school shootings resulting in at least one firearm death or injury that occurred on school grounds in the United States from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2016. Researchers have identified 660 incidents of school shootings that resulted in injury from 1990 to 2016. The goal is to collect all of the information available for each incident and to highlight key characteristics for each incident, victim, and individual perpetrating the shooting to help law enforcement and school administrators differentiate between various kinds of school shootings and develop appropriate prevention efforts and responses for individuals and the community.
Sexual Violence on College Campuses: A Closer Look
Sexual violence on college and university campuses is a particularly serious problem. One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. Perpetrators often use alcohol strategically, with 75% of self-reported perpetrators admitting to alcohol use before their most recent incident. Incidents involving alcohol were much more likely to include attempted or completed rape than incidents without alcohol.
Consent: The Foundation of Safe Interactions
Consent is an affirmative agreement to do something, either sexual or nonsexual. It is an enthusiastic, clearly communicated, and ongoing “yes.” You can’t rely on past sexual interactions and should never assume consent. The absence of “no” is not a “yes.” A person who is impaired by drugs or alcohol cannot give consent.
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Prevention Strategies
Preventing sexual violence requires reducing rates at the population level rather than solely focusing on individual health or safety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a comprehensive approach that includes activities and strategies at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. Empowering bystanders to disrupt harmful behavior, intervene on behalf of others, and support survivors is crucial.
Title IX and Campus Safety
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. For Title IX, sexual violence falls under the definition of sexual harassment as a form of gender-based discrimination. Other types of discrimination covered under Title IX include pregnancy discrimination, failure to provide equal athletic opportunities, sex-based discrimination in STEM courses and programs, and discriminatory application of dress code policies/or enforcement, and retaliation.
All school districts, colleges, universities, or institutions that receive federal financial assistance are covered by Title IX. These institutions must respond promptly in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent to sexual harassment. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for enforcing Title IX and provides guidance to institutions in complying with the law. The Department of Education released a final rule in April amending the regulations and implementation of Title IX, which took effect August 1.
The Clery Act and the Campus SaVE Act
Since 1990, degree-granting postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal student financial aid programs have been required to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, known as the Clery Act. The Clery Act requires institutions to distribute timely warnings about crime incidents to students and staff; to publicly report campus crime and safety policies; and to collect, report, and disseminate campus crime data. The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act, as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, amended the Clery Act, requiring all institutions of higher learning to educate students, faculty, and staff on preventing rape, acquaintance rape, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Data Reported Under the Clery Act
The Clery Act requires postsecondary degree-granting institutions to report data for several types of crimes, including murder, sex offenses (forcible and nonforcible), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In 2021, a total of 23,400 criminal incidents of these types were reported. The overall number of on-campus crimes reported per 10,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students was lower in 2021 than in 2011 (16.9 vs. 20.0) but showed no consistent trend for this period.
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Considering specific types of reported on-campus crimes, the rate per 10,000 FTE students was lower in 2021 than in 2011 for five categories: murder, robbery, burglary, arson, and nonforcible sex offenses. In contrast, the rate was higher in 2021 than in 2011 for forcible sex offenses, motor vehicle theft, and aggravated assault. Specifically, the rate for forcible sex offenses increased between 2011 and 2021 (from 2.2 to 7.5 per 10,000 FTE students), surpassing burglary as the most reported crime and peaking in 2018.
Institutions with residence halls reported higher rates of on-campus crime than did institutions without residence halls (21.0 vs. 5.5 per 10,000 FTE students). For example, the rate of reported forcible sex offenses was higher at institutions with residence halls than at institutions without them (9.9 vs. 0.7 per 10,000 FTE students), and the rate of reported burglaries was higher at institutions with residence halls than at institutions without them.
In addition to reporting on-campus arrests for cases involving illegal weapons possession, drug law violations, and liquor law violations, degree-granting postsecondary institutions also report referrals for disciplinary action for these types of cases. In 2021, there were a total of 127,300 referrals for disciplinary action for cases involving illegal weapons possession, drug law violations, and liquor law violations. The largest number of disciplinary referrals (102,700 referrals, or 81 percent of referrals) involved liquor law violations. Most of the referrals (92 percent) involved violations in residence halls.
Hate Crimes on Campus
A 2008 amendment to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and Campus Crime Statistics Act requires postsecondary institutions to report hate crime incidents. A hate crime is a criminal offense that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the perpetrator’s bias against the victim(s) based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. In 2021, of the 23,426 reported criminal incidents that occurred on the campuses of postsecondary institutions, 667 incidents (3 percent of all reported criminal incidents) were classified as hate crimes.
Creating Safer Campuses: Initiatives and Resources
Many initiatives and resources are available to create safer campuses and support students who have experienced violence.
The University of Iowa Threat Assessment Team (TAT)
The University of Iowa Threat Assessment Team (TAT) works with campus and community partners to prevent violence and maintain safety by assessing, monitoring, and providing support for people exhibiting unusual distress, fixated grievances, or troubling behaviors. The most reported type of threatening behavior was unwelcome communication. Once TAT receives a report, it assesses the situation of all parties involved, context of conflict/ threat, and risk of turning violent. It provides support for both targets of threats/violence and subjects of concern and develops a safety plan, including help navigating the university system, fear management, and referrals to mental health services.
Student-Led Initiatives
Student-led initiatives, such as the Bruin Consent Coalition at UCLA, aim to spread awareness about sexual violence and educate students on resources. These coalitions often provide resources to fellow students who have faced assault or sexual misconduct and take active measures to protect themselves.
Campus Awareness and Support
Efforts to raise student awareness about civil rights programming and services and the resources available to students can contribute to a safer campus environment. Student staff often participate in training from the Title IX office and the Campus Assault Resources and Education (CARE) center before being hired.
Reporting and Support Systems
Colleges and universities publish annual security reports that include the number of incidents reported to authorities. Institutions must provide victims of the crimes covered by the Clery Act with a written explanation of their rights, including the option for a relocation/change of housing, transportation, or academic course assignment. All disciplinary proceedings must be conducted by trained parties at the institution.
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