Weapons in the Schoolyard: How School Weapons Offenses Differ from other Forms of Youth Offending

Objectives This study examined whether risk factors for school weapons offenses differ from those for other forms of youth offending. We compared school weapons offenses with (1) weapons offenses in the community and (2) non-weapons violence at school, across domains of risk factors: delinquent histories, trauma and psychological problems, and deviant social influences and norms. Methods Statewide data on juvenile law enforcement referrals from 2010 to 2019 were analyzed ( N = 18,193 school or community weapons referrals and 33,041 weapons or non-weapons violence school referrals). Multilevel logistic regression models tested whether risk factors differentially predicted school weapons referrals in each of the two comparisons. Results Relative to community weapons offenses, school weapons offenses were more strongly associated with internalizing problems and prior felonies and less strongly associated with prior misdemeanors, substance use, antisocial peers, and household incarceration. Relative to non-weapons school violence, school weapons offenses were more strongly associated with prior felonies, flashbacks, and internalizing problems and less strongly associated with prior misdemeanors, anger, and aggressive beliefs. Most associations were modest. Conclusion School weapons offending has a partly different constellation of risk factors than other related forms of youth offending. Additional work is needed to unpack the mechanisms underlying these associations.