Graduate Program

Family and Consumer Studies

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2006

Thesis Director

Richard Wilkinson

Thesis Committee Member

Frances Murphy

Thesis Committee Member

Mary Lou Hubbard

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of violence among high school students. The researcher analyzed the differences in the perceptions of the severity of violence among high school students in the following demographic characteristics: ethnicity, gender, academic achievement, regional location and family e-up. In addition, the differences in the severity of physical, verbal and social violence was found and also compared among the above mentioned demographic characteristics. The sample included 145 high school students in Illinois. A quantitative causal comparative design was used to compare perceptions of violence among existing groups of high school students. Additionally, a qualitative questionnaire was used after a presentation on violence prevention to assess students' knowledge of violent acts occurring in their school and their perception of prevention methods.

It was found that there was no statistically significant difference in perceptions of violence among ethnicities, between genders, and among different levels of academic achievement, regional locations or types of guardianship. Statistically significant differences were found in perceptions of the severity of physical, verbal and social violence among all groups of students. Physical violence was seen as more severe than verbal; verbal violence was seen as more severe than social.

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