This issue critically examines issues related to the appraisal of the risk for violence among students and offers current information about the potentials and limitations of assessment and screening for violence potential. The authors provide a meta-analysis of factors associated with youth violence across settings, evaluate the incidence of school violence from three national surveys, provide an analysis of general incidence of gun possession on school campus, and evaluate how well school risk factors from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey can be used to predict weapon possession. They also share perspectives about what schools are doing to assess and respond to students with difficult behavior, urging schools to evaluate student aggressive behavior within their broader life contexts (family, peers, and community) and to use appraisal procedures as part of comprehensive prevention programming.

LeAdelle Phelps is the author of Psychology in the Schools, Volume 38, Number 2, March 2001, Appraisal and Prediction of School Violence , published by Wiley.