A study of why disproportionate numbers of male and black high school students are suspended or expelled examines student and school characteristics and teacher attitudes. This document reports results on student characteristics. In eleven high schools in two large, urban, midwestern school districts, researchers used interviews, student records, questionnaire surveys, and state education department statistics to gather data on students' race, sex, achievement levels, family characteristics, and disciplinary histories as well as on their attitudes concerning control over self-destiny, dislike of school, fairness of punishments, board and administrator power, student and parent power, school climate, interracial relations and friendships, and white predominance. The results showed that, while males and blacks are disciplined more, the imbalance varied among schools in the same district. Analysis further indicated that highly disruptive students were less fatalistic, disliked school less, and felt punishments were fairer than did students who were mild disrupters or non-disrupters. However, serious disrupters also perceived boards, administrators, students, parents, and themselves as lacking power in the schools. The authors suggest that school programs to help student disrupters use decision-making strategies to build disrupters' feelings that they do have some control in school. (RW)