Threats in Schools: A Practical Guide for Managing Violence

Published 2002, 154 pages
Joseph T. McCann, PsyD, JD

In the wake of several highly publicized school shootings, the problem of school violence has increasingly become a focus of concern for the general public as well as teachers, school officials, and students. Drawing on case studies from publicized violent incidents as well as from Dr. McCann’s private practice, Threats in Schools: A Practical Guide for Managing Violence provides techniques for identifying, conceptualizing, assessing, and managing threatening behavior by students in school settings. Offering specific case management strategies for a variety of situations, this indispensable volume provides guidance on formulating questions to ask and suggestions for developing strategies for managing potentially violent situations.

Integrating threat assessment and risk management models, this approach will help you target potential threats to property, other students, teachers, and school staff. The interdisciplinary approach recognizes that violent behavior is dependent on the characteristics of the perpetrator, victim, and setting, and that the relationship between threats and violence is not always clear.

Threats in Schools offers well-grounded research, detailed case studies, and theoretical approaches to help you deal with the tough issues, including:

• zero-tolerance policies and their more effective alternatives
• why profiling techniques to identify violence-prone students are of limited use
• interventions to defuse potentially violent situations
• critical incident stress management