Butts, Jeffrey, Douglas Evans, and Jocelyn Fontaine (2013). Reducing the Risks and Consequences of Crime Victimization in Schools. In Victims of Crime. Robert C. Davis, Arthur J. Lurigio, and Susan Herman (Editors), Fourth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Recent surveys of school administrators and students indicate that school crime is falling in the United States. In 2009-2010, the rate of victimization among students was half what it had been in the 1990s. Still, three quarters of all schools that year reported at least one violent incident in which a student was the victim of a criminal act. Some schools in America are still not safe for all students. School administrators and educators require effective strategies for enhancing school safety. Research on school-based crime prevention has generated some guidance for policy and practice, but the evaluation literature is still emerging. Studies have yet to demonstrate unambiguous support for any particular strategy. Additional research is needed to provide clear evidence of program impact, and much is still unknown about how program design and implementation affect program success. The need for better evidence about school-based crime prevention programs remains as urgent as it was a decade ago when evaluation research was far less available than it is today. Policymakers and practitioners deserve better information about school safety and how to ensure it.