Violence in adolescent dating relationships has become increasingly normative in the United States, with the severity of the consequences increasing into adulthood. Minority youths are at an increased risk for experiencing moderate to severe forms of physical dating violence, yet they are less likely to seek professional services. This comparative…

A cross-sectional, Web-based survey was completed by 250 members of the School Social Work Association of America. This article addresses the research-practice gap in the delivery of mental health services in the school setting by examining the extent to which evidence-supported school violence intervention programs (ESPs) are known and used by…

This article provides information about aspects of the school environment students perceive to influence the occurrence of school violence. Concept mapping, a mixed-methods methodology, was used with two groups of urban, primarily African American high school students (N = 27) to create conceptual frameworks of their understanding of the school…

Girl fighting and its relational context is a problem that is receiving extensive attention in popular and academic circles. This article reports on a project that gathered the opinions from focus groups of seventh- and eighth-grade girls, organized to understand the perspectives of young adolescent girls in middle school on girl fighting. Both…

Aggressive behavior aimed at peers in school settings is a persistent problem for students, teachers, parents, and school social workers. Peer victimization is particularly troubling for adolescent girls in light of recent increases in aggression and violence among female adolescents. However, most studies of peer victimization, particularly among…

Researchers have argued that there is a research-practice gap in the delivery of prevention and mental health services in the school setting. This national survey addresses that gap by identifying the barriers confronted by school social workers in implementing evidence-supported programs to address interpersonal violence in the school context. A…

Youths at risk for violent and antisocial behavior often suffer from alienation and a lack of bonding to family, school, and community. The role of the school social worker is often to implement interventions that support inclusion and connection to these entities. Yet using a theoretical trajectory that solely supports a unidirectional flow of…

Prevention programs in schools are one response to youth, community, and family violence. Many of these programs target older children and adolescents. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the preschool curriculum of the Peacemakers program, which was developed by a consortium of social service agencies for implementation in schools. This…

The purpose of the current study is to advance the psychometric properties of the child-administered 22-item Recent Exposure to Violence Scale (REVS) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) across three large and ethnically diverse samples of children ranging in age from middle childhood through adolescence. Results of the CFA suggest that a…

This article outlines a philosophical and theoretical framework for conducting school violence assessments at the local level. The authors advocate that assessments employ a strong conceptual foundation based on social work values. These values include the active measurement of ecological factors inside and outside the school that reflect the…

The importance of preventing and intervening in bullying and other forms of school violence has been well established. This has resulted in the publication of numerous programs designed to prevent bullying and violence in schools. However, a missing piece revolves around the social worker's role in identifying and assessing violent behaviors in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among a school's psychosocial environment and the prevalence and types of bullying behaviors that either lead to or result from that environment. More specifically, this study examined how the frequency of aggressive behaviors (for example, bullying) experienced by students (as…

Although research has highlighted that dating violence is a serious and pervasive problem in many adolescent relationships, the prevalence and characteristics of such violence at schools is not fully understood. Yet, adolescents spend a great deal of time at school, and schools facilitate their relationships by providing numerous opportunities for…

School social workers are in a position to positively influence the educational experiences of those students placed most at risk by current school practices, and data indicate that Hispanics are particularly vulnerable in this regard. An examination of trends and educational outcomes are provided as evidence of the educational challenges…

Violence exposure among rural youths is a significant public health problem, yet little research has been conducted on violence in this setting. This study explored rural youths' direct and indirect experience of violence in the neighborhood, school, and home. The author used hierarchical regression analyses to explore youth violence exposure,…