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Perceptions of selected school personnel toward youth gangs in high schools, Broward County, Florida

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Date Issued:
1990
Summary:
This study was designed to compare the perceptions of principals (20), assistant principals (110), school resource officers (22), school-based security personnel (31), and county-based security personnel (11) toward youth gang activity in the Broward County, Florida, high schools. A 44-item survey was developed, focusing on five gang-related subscales and six overview questions. Using the.01 level of significance, a one-way analysis of variance was used to determine the strength of the association between the independent position variable and the dependent opinion variables. Chi-square was applied to the six overview questions. The findings indicated that 81% of the respondents did not agree that their school has gang problems; however, 67% did agree that the Broward County, Florida, school system has gang problems, and 80% agreed that Broward County, Florida, has gang problems. The findings revealed that there were no significant differences in perception among the groups tested toward the gang-related subscales and in the overview questions that focused on gang presence in the neighborhood surrounding the school, in their school, problems within the school system, and problems in Broward County. There were significant differences in perception among the respondents on the overview questions that focused on gang problems in the neighborhood surrounding the school and on gang problems within the school. When grouped by specialization, i.e., education or law enforcement, there were no significant differences in perception between the groups toward the gang-related subscales of communication and turf and in the overview questions that focused on gangs in the neighborhood surrounding the school, gang problems within the school, gang problems within the school system, and gang problems within Broward County. There were significantly differences in perception between the groups when grouped by specialization in the gang-related subscales of graffiti, attire, and campus disruptions and in the overview questions that focused on gangs in the school and gang problems in the neighborhood surrounding the school.
Title: Perceptions of selected school personnel toward youth gangs in high schools, Broward County, Florida.
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Name(s): Melita, Joseph A.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Urich, Ted R., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1990
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 166 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: This study was designed to compare the perceptions of principals (20), assistant principals (110), school resource officers (22), school-based security personnel (31), and county-based security personnel (11) toward youth gang activity in the Broward County, Florida, high schools. A 44-item survey was developed, focusing on five gang-related subscales and six overview questions. Using the.01 level of significance, a one-way analysis of variance was used to determine the strength of the association between the independent position variable and the dependent opinion variables. Chi-square was applied to the six overview questions. The findings indicated that 81% of the respondents did not agree that their school has gang problems; however, 67% did agree that the Broward County, Florida, school system has gang problems, and 80% agreed that Broward County, Florida, has gang problems. The findings revealed that there were no significant differences in perception among the groups tested toward the gang-related subscales and in the overview questions that focused on gang presence in the neighborhood surrounding the school, in their school, problems within the school system, and problems in Broward County. There were significant differences in perception among the respondents on the overview questions that focused on gang problems in the neighborhood surrounding the school and on gang problems within the school. When grouped by specialization, i.e., education or law enforcement, there were no significant differences in perception between the groups toward the gang-related subscales of communication and turf and in the overview questions that focused on gangs in the neighborhood surrounding the school, gang problems within the school, gang problems within the school system, and gang problems within Broward County. There were significantly differences in perception between the groups when grouped by specialization in the gang-related subscales of graffiti, attire, and campus disruptions and in the overview questions that focused on gangs in the school and gang problems in the neighborhood surrounding the school.
Identifier: 12248 (digitool), FADT12248 (IID), fau:9154 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1990.
College of Education
Subject(s): Gangs--Florida
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12248
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.