Date of Award

5-7-2026

Degree Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Criminology and Criminal Justice

First Advisor

Dr. Mark Foxall

Abstract

“Violence prevention begins in the high chair, not the electric chair” (Reiner, as cited in Davis et al., 2002). Two elements are essential to successful violence prevention: interventions that start early and interventions that are consistent (Davis et al., 2002; Dodge et al., 2015). The first five years are crucial for development; therefore, violence prevention needs to happen as early as possible to identify and address potential risk factors before harmful behaviors become reinforced (Davis et al., 2002). Despite this knowledge for the need for early violence prevention, schools still lack a truly proactive, universal system for identifying violence-related risk factors among all students.

The tools currently used in schools are social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) screeners and threat assessments; both have significant limitations when it comes to proactive violence prevention. SEBs are designed to assess for general mental wellness and academic success, not to identify violent-related risk factors, and are often not administered universally (Jaspers-van der Maten et al., 2022). Threat assessments are fundamentally reactive, enacted after direct threats of violence are made or observations of “aberrant behavior” (Deisinger, 2025, p.16) are made (Fein et al., 2004). These assessments rely on discretion, which results in unequal treatment among students; Black students and students with disabilities are disproportionately referred for threat assessments (Cornell et al., 2018).

There are currently no annual, universal, self-administered violent needs assessments designed for a non-offending population of K-12 students. While research on the use of risk needs assessments being used in schools does exist, these violence-specific risk assessments are not universal but reactive and targeted, given to students in response to problematic behavior (McGowan et al., 2011; Sullivan & Holcomb, 2010). In addition, these assessments, whether self-assessed or externally assessed, are aimed at older adolescents in middle and high school, ignoring a vulnerable population of children entering school (Davis et al., 2002; McGowan et al., 2011; Sullivan & Holcomb, 2010). An interview with the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools (CYFS) and Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) provided insight into the current lack of universal violence-specific needs assessments for youth K-12 (A. Kobe, personal communication, January 16, 2026; J. Rehtus, personal communication, March 26, 2026).

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