| Although there has been extensive research on general school violence topics, there has been limited research on the relationship of the school's physical environment and school violence. The Crime Prevention through Environmental Design is a theory that incorporates ecological theories to make the assumption that proper environmental design can lead to a reduction of crime. This theory could also be applied to the school setting as a catalyst for increasing safety within schools. For this study, a predictive correlational design was utilized to determine the relationship between the variables defined as the levels of school violence, categorized as disruptive incidents and violent incidents, and the schools' physical environment. A probability-based sampling of 265 teachers from throughout the state of Mississippi, were surveyed using a web-based survey instrument. The results of this study verified a significant relationship exists between the school environment and disruptive behaviors. There was no relationship found between the school environment and violent behaviors, however. Disruptive incidents, even though they are less serious in nature, constitute a greater distraction to student learning due to the significant number of incidents. The findings of this study indicate that students are often involved in behaviors that, although non-violent in nature, impede their own learning and serve to disrupt the education of other students within the learning environment. Based on the results of this study, it is possible for the actual physical state of a school environment in terms of the age, state of repair, cleanliness, lighting, heating and cooling, etc., to impact the occurrence of disruptive behaviors as perceived by teachers within the state of Mississippi. |
