Introduction
Campuses of educational institutions traditionally occupy broad territories and include many facilities necessary for student’s life and studies. Although campus safety is one of the primary concerns of college or university administrations, there are still significant risks and possible accidents that threaten the safety of the campus and its inhabitants. Thus, the majority of colleges and universities throughout the United States work on developing policies, implementing programs, and creating systems to shorten the risks and preserve security and safety at campuses (Kapucu and Khosa 1). Still, incidents involving the use of weapons or sexual violence are frequent (Kampmark). This research will investigate the existing risks and possible accidents that can be found at campuses thus providing an opportunity to develop strategies for their reduction and prevention.
Problem Statement
The problem of safety is burning for college and university campuses. Risks and accidents can be different. The most general group of incidents and risks include environmental hazards. They depend on the region and can rarely be avoided. The major focus of this type of incident is the mitigation of its negative outcomes because preventive measures that can be accomplished within a campus are not likely to be effective. Another group of risks and accidents that is more dangerous than environmental ones are those involving a human factor.
Gilroy (45) defines guns, hazing, and cyberbullying as the main issues that happen at campuses. The researcher mentions the cases of fatal shootings that became frequent at campuses of educational institutions as the primary safety concern. Moreover, it implies a legal issue that makes worried not only college or university administrations, but society as a whole. Another issue that involves both legal and ethical concerns is cyberbullying (Gilroy 45). Kamali (43) also investigates the issue of cyberbullying in higher education and concludes that one of its causes is the misuse of information systems.
Budd et al. (2) present the concept of sexual assault as another frequent problem at college and university campuses. While there are not much relevant data for analysis because reports on campus sexual assault are mainly self-provided, the researchers use prior research findings to investigate the problem and determine the peculiarities of male and female victimization. The authors mention such a risk factor that increases the incidence of sexual assault at college campuses as alcohol consumption (Budd et al. 3). Moreover, they revealed the fact that 77% of rapes at college campuses involve alcohol intoxication compared to 37% of sexual assaults involving alcohol consumption among the general population (Kristen et al. 3). Therefore, alcohol can be considered a significant risk factor for on-campus incidents.
Van Brant et al (145) also mention alcohol as one of the twelve risk factors for sexual violence at campuses. Thus, a minimum of 50% of sexual assaults is associated with alcohol. The other factors include objectification and depersonalization, obsessive or addicted pornography/sex focus, threats and ultimatums, misogynistic ideology, grooming behaviors, using substances, hardened or inflexible point of view, the pattern of escalating threat strategies, lack of empathy, sensation-seeking behaviors, obsessive and/or addictive thoughts and behaviors, and experience (Van Brant et al. 154). The knowledge of these risk factors is a tool that can be used by college and university administration to develop strategies for revealing individuals at risk and thus prevent the possible incidents of sexual assault at campuses. All of the mentioned risks and incidents interfere with personal safety at campuses and thus the problem needs to be solved (Zugazanda et al. 33). On the whole, the problem of this research is related to the lack of distinct definitions of risk factors and incidents that are reported at campus facilities. Consequently, it is necessary to discover those risks to empower the development of mitigating strategies and interventions.
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to identify the existing risks and probable incidents at campus facilities. The awareness of possible hazards is expected to contribute to the development of preventive strategies and will help to avoid some incidents or mitigate their negative influence on campus on the whole and students in particular. Moreover, this study will reveal the threats that can stimulate the implementation of campus safety laws.
Objectives and Research Question
The objectives of this research are as follows. First of all, campuses of educational institutions are at a high risk of incidents involving violence or other cases of deviant behavior of students. Therefore, there is a need for determining these risks and accidents to develop strategies for their mitigation. Secondly, the major accidents that should be taken into account include sexual assault, cyberbullying, and cases with firearms. Since these are the incidents that threaten life and health, much attention should be paid to their identification and prevention. The research question for this study is: “What are the risks and accidents that treated individuals within campus facilities?”
Limitations
This study has some limitations that do not allow generalizing its results. First of all, it is grounded on the review of the current literature, mainly the reviews as well. It means that these studies could be biased due to the researchers’ interpretations. Secondly, research lacks statistical data to evaluate the current condition of the identified problem. There are separate statistical reports from some colleges, but the information is not systematized on the national level. Probably, it can be explained by the imperfect system of campus accident reporting and poor motivation to report on these events. Finally, the study is not based on an experiment, which also decreases its reliability and validity. Still, these limitations provide directions for further research that can contain an experiment and provide valid data to be implemented into the practice of managing campus safety.
Assumption
On the whole, the problem of accidents at campuses goes beyond colleges and universities and becomes a public concern. Research on risk factors and possible accidents is necessary to develop relevant and effective safety policies. These policies should comprise solutions that will be equally accepted by students as well as faculty staff (Kyle et al. 650). Often, the issue of campus safety and the ways to determine and mitigate the risks of incidents are broadly discussed after tragedies happen such as campus shootings. After-action reports can be used by agencies to develop safety measures and thus are important (Giblin et al. 395). At the same time, minor accidents are not reported while educational institutions are supposed to provide reports on such on-campus crimes as “burglaries; forcible sex offenses; motor vehicle thefts; and aggravated assaults,” the number of these reports is decreasing (Musu-Gillette). Summarizing, it should be said that to resolve the problem of campus incidents, a common effort is needed. Educational institutions should provide reports of incidents, specialized agencies are supposed to analyze them and reveal the causes and risk factors. These data can be used by researchers to generalize the findings and develop effective strategies aimed at decrease of risk factors and prevention of campus incidents.
Works Cited
Budd, Kristen M. et al. “Deconstructing Incidents of Campus Sexual Assault: Comparing Male and Female Victimization. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 2017, pp. 1-22.
Giblin, Matthew J. et al. “Agree to Disagree? Discordance in Agency Responses Regarding Campus Safety.” Journal of Crime and Justice, vol. 36, no. 3, 2013, pp. 374-397.
Gilroy, Marilyn. “Guns, Hazing, and Cyberbullying Among Top Legal Issues on Campuses.” The Education Digest, vol. 78, no. 8, 2013, pp. 45-50.
Kamali, Ali. “Assessing Cyberbullying in Higher Education.” Information Systems Education Journal, vol. 16, no. 6, 2015, pp. 43-53.
Kampmark, Binoy. “Schools of Violence: The American University and the Gun.”International Policy Digest, vol. 2, no. 9, 2015. Web.
Kapucu, Naim, and Sana Khosa. “Disaster Resiliency and Culture of Preparedness for University and College Campuses.” Administration and Society, 2012, pp. 1-35.
Kyle, Michael J. et al. “Perceptions of Campus Safety Policies: Contrasting the Views of Students with Faculty and Staff.” American Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 42, no. 3, 2017, pp. 644-667.
Musu-Gillette, Lauren. “Crime and Safety on College Campuses.”National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015. Web.
Van Brunt, Brian, et al. “The Dirty Dozen: Twelve Risk Factors for Sexual Violence on College Campuses (DD-12). Violence and Gender, vol. 2, no. 3, 2015, pp. 145-160.
Zugazada, Carole, et al. “Increasing Personal Safety on Campus: Implementation of a New Personal Security System on a University Campus.” College Student Affairs Journal, vol. 34 no. 1, 2016, pp. 33-47.