School Principals’ Perceptions of Crime Risk and Academic Climate: Links to School Safety Practices

ABSTRACT

Little is known about principals’ perceptions and their links to how school safety practices operate. Using data from School Survey on Crime and Safety from 2,009 public schools in the US, the current study examines the extent to which principals/administrators’ perceptions of academic climate and crime risk are related to school practices regarding safety and discipline. Results show that principals’ perceptions directly relate to school safety practices when controlling for school characteristics, and also explain how selected school characteristics relate to safety practices.Overall, the present study highlights the importance of principals’ perceptions of crime risk and academic climate in school safety practices. Policy implications and potential limitations of the study are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• principals’ perceptions
• school safety practices
• crime risk
• academic climate

Acknowledgments

This paper has greatly benefited from valuable and insightful comments from Professor Michael G. Maxfield.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jimin Pyo

Jimin Pyo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, at California State University, Northridge (after August 2020). Her research interests center on understanding and measuring public perceptions such as institutional confidence, legitimacy, crime risk, and fear of crime/victimization and examining links to various law-related behavioral and attitudinal outcomes.