Role of school-climate in school-based violence among homeless and nonhomeless students: Individual- and school-level analysis

Background: Research is scarce regarding homeless students’ school-violence experiences, specifically while considering the role of school-climate and the different groups within the homeless student population. Understanding the relation between school-violence and school-climate might help towards the development of support for homeless students. Objective: Examine the association between school-climate components, homelessness and school discriminatory bullying, behavioral victimization and weapon involvement at the student and school levels. Participants: 389,569 high school students and 811 schools from a representative California statewide sample (2011–2013). Methods: Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine differences between the subgroups of homeless students as compared to nonhomeless students. Hierarchical logistic regressions were conducted to examine the relation between school-climate and discriminatory bullying, behavioral victimization and weapon involvement in school at the individual level, and hierarchical linear regressions were conducted at the school level. Results: At the student level adding school-climate dimensions contributed significantly to each outcome. Positive school-climate was associated with lower rates of all school-violence outcomes. Safety, positive relationship and connectedness were all significantly negatively associated with the outcomes, especially safety. At the school level, the partial linear regression coefficient of school-climate is negative and significantly (p < .001) decreases discriminatory bullying, behavioral discrimination and gun involvement. Conclusion: Positive school-climate serves as a protective factor for homeless students with regards to school violence outcomes. Enhancing whole-school interventions improving school-climate at the school level, would benefit students experiencing homelessness.