High school gun carrying: the role of disorder, collective efficacy, and police efficacy at school in a predominantly black sample.

A host of national tragedies in high schools across the United States, including the shootings at the Parkland High School in Florida and the Oxford High School in Michigan, have focused public attention on school shootings. These events, while statistically rare, have far-reaching impacts on students' and parents' trust in schools, and are significant concerns to community members, school administrators, and policymakers. This study tests variables from several criminological theories to help understand gun carrying in high school using a survey of first-year university students at a Historically Black College & University (HBCU) in the south. There is a relationship between some of the criminal lifestyle and fear of victimization variables and carrying a gun to school, and collective efficacy is found to be a moderator for perceptions of safety at school in predicting school gun carrying. The policy and practical implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]