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Journal article
Carrying a handgun in public vs. taking a handgun to school among youth: An exploration of the predicting power of risk factors related to delinquency, aggression, and victimization
Security journal
02/09/2023
Web of Science ID: WOS:000928985300001
Abstract
Gun violence in school settings has recently been of great concern in the US. However, research on youth carrying a gun to school is limited in numbers and scope. This study strove to improve the understanding of the risk factors associated with gun carrying in the general public and taking a gun to school among middle- and high-school students. Based on a dataset collected from rural, urban, and suburban schools in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (n = 5648), this study explored the predictor value of several potential risk factors derived from two prominent theoretical frameworks: "crime facilitation" and "fear and loathing" on two major outcome variables; carrying a handgun in public, and taking a handgun to school. The predictor variables included measures of bullying, violence against a dating partner, and non-gun delinquency. The bivariate analysis (group comparisons) indicated no significant difference between the likelihood of carrying a hand gun in public and taking a handgun to school among participants. The multivariate analysis indicated that non-gun delinquency was the most important risk factor increasing the likelihood for carrying a hand gun in public and taking a handgun to school. How future risk/threat assessment efforts should interpret these findings is discussed, along with the implications on how taking a gun to school is an extension of general gun carrying and may primarily be shaped by the presence of a delinquent lifestyle, rather than any other possible predictors examined.
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Details
- Title
- Carrying a handgun in public vs. taking a handgun to school among youth
- Publication Details
- Security journal
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 25
- Copyright
- © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited
- Identifiers
- WOS:000928985300001; 99380178093206600
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities; Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Legal Studies
- Language
- English