Public School as a Protective Environment:
A Multi-Level-Modeling Study of Delinquency among Students
by
Celia C. Lo
and
Thomas M. Allen
Abstract
This research intended to assess how several protective and risk factors affect
delinquency among public-school students. The factors were measured at both the
individual level and school level. The two types of data were obtained by the Substance
Abuse Services Division of the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental
Retardation. Evaluated with hierarchical linear modeling techniques (HLM), the data
demonstrated that, at both levels, the protective factors reduced the delinquent behavior
of sixth- to twelfth-graders. Implications for development of protective environments
within public schools, as well as at the individual level, are raised.