Internal Control In Schools

Violent behavior by adolescents is a serious phenomenon, and one that has the potential to create serious costs for society. For example, in 2010, juveniles were involved in 27% of all serious violent victimizations in Leon County alone. These violent crimes by juveniles have become increasingly lethal in recent years, as young people have more access to guns. While overall homicide rates in the U. S. have remained constant over the last three decades, youth homicide rates have risen. In 1997, more than 1,400 murders were determined to have involved a juvenile (U. S. Department of Justice, 1999). Even more recently, over the past two years, school shootings have left our schools as modern killing fields for a generation of children (Gar. …show more content…
It has been variously described and operationalized in the literature. In general, though, internal control refers to regulation of behavior through internal schemas and resources rather than external forces such as social interaction. One common element across descriptions of internal control is that it is considered to be a “master” construct that encompasses other personality traits. Weinberger, for example, suggested that self-restraint is comprised of four subscales of self-control including impulse control, suppression of aggression, consideration of others, and responsibility. A second element that is common in descriptions of internal control is impulse suppression. Those with low self-control have been described as having a “here and now” orientation that does not account for long-term goals and …show more content…
However, there is evidence that low internal controls also have a negative impact on children’s peer relationships. Forty-eight percent of peer-rejected boys show a pattern of behavior which is aggressive, impulsive, disruptive, and no cooperative. The rejection of this type of behavior by children seems to be stable across contexts. In one study of childhood peer sociometrist, inattention/hyperactivity had a negative effect on peer preference across classrooms, with no effect for the amount of such behavior in the classroom in general. Other types of problem behavior (such as aggression and withdrawal) varied in their lack of classroom acceptance depending upon peer group norms in particular classes. Additionally, adolescents who engage in withdrawn or aggressive behavior seem at risk for peer rejection and victimization only when these behaviors are also accompanied by an irritable-inattentive