Toward an Organizational Climate of Delinquency Prevention: The Missing Link for Understanding School Delinquency

Various acts of in-school delinquency can threaten students’ academic achievement, health, and well-being, making preventing these acts a priority for school leaders. Mandated policies and interventions, such as zero-tolerance policies, security measures, and school programming, aim to prevent delinquency, although their effectiveness is unclear. This chapter argues that students’ perceptions and interpretations of these initiatives are the missing link in understanding school delinquency. An organizational climate framework is used to advocate for the following three points: (1) it is essential to assess students’ perceptions of delinquency interventions, (2) student perceptions can emerge as a shared school-level phenomenon, and (3) if student perceptions are shared, a strategic climate dimension of school delinquency prevention should be examined to determine its relationship to delinquency engagement. Doing so can enhance the current knowledge of school delinquency and prevention.