Abstract:

Most research on school (Cacouault-Bitaud & Œuvrard, 2009) reminds us of the current situation of "violence", relayed by the media, but also of how emotionally charged this issue is. In addition, the public data processing provided to institutions shows the current instruments’ imperfection in counting victims and perpetrators. While researchers are interested in victimization in Secondary Education (Debarbieux, 2004), we have very little evidence of victimization of students in Higher Education. In France and Europe, the public debate is fueled by a single statistical source: police statistics. However, researchers have developed general population surveys in the United States (Fleury DeVoe & Bauer, 2011; Barrett & al., 2012; Sloan & al., 1997) and more particularly in France (Robert & Zauberman, 2011; 2017). Thus, we focus on positioning oneself from the victim's point of view. Based on victimization surveys conducted on 3 university campuses in France, the results of my research presented reveal the nature of the acts of delinquency and incivility among students by showing that they differ according to the location of these particular social spaces. This research, which is unprecedented in France, highlights the prevalence of victimization, the victim profiles and attempts to measure the feeling of insecurity (with statistic data: 1250 questionnaires) in an institution that welcomes a growing proportion of young people. This inventory constitutes essential scientific knowledge at a time when issues of securing public places, in the context of the Bologna Process at work, are the subject of much debate across Europe.

References:
[1] Barrett, K., Jennings W. & Lynch M. (2012). The Relation Between Youth Fear and Avoidance of Crime in School and Academic Experiences, Journal of School Violence, 11 (1), 1-20.
[2] Cacouault-Bitaud, M. & Œuvrard, F. (2009). Sociologie de l'éducation. Paris : La Découverte.
[3] Debarbieux, E. (2004). Les enquêtes de victimation en milieu scolaire : leçons critiques et innovations méthodologiques. Déviance et Société, vol. 28(3), 317-333.
[4] Fleury DeVoe, J. & Bauer, L. (2011). Student Victimization in U.S. School: Results From 2009 School Crime Supplement to the Natioanal Crime Victimization Survey, National Center for education statistics.
[5] Robert, P., Zauberman, R. (2011). Le développement et les usages des enquêtes de victimation en France. Économie et statistiques, 448, 1, 79-83.
[6] Robert, P., Zauberman, R. (2017). Du sentiment d'insécurité à l'état sécuritaire, Lormont : Le Bord de l'eau.
[7] Sloan J., Fisher B., Cullen F. (1997). Assessing the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990: An Analysis of the Victim Reporting Practices of College and University Students/Sloan, Crime and Delinquency, 43 (2).

Keywords:

Students, Victimization survey, Fear of crime, University campus, security, The Bologna Process.