Sense of Safety

Abstract

The Sense of Safety is a brief psychological scale designed to measure the subjective feelings of security experienced by elementary and middle school youths across different environments. Consisting of 11 items, the instrument assesses perceived safety in three key domains: the journey to and from school, the immediate school safety environment (including classrooms and grounds), and the home/neighborhood setting. It is primarily used in educational and public health contexts to evaluate the impact of interventions aimed at reducing violence and improving well-being among children.

Keywords

School safety, personal attitudes, beliefs, violence prevention, youth development, neighborhood safety, subjective well-being, Sense of Safety, assessment tool.

Authors

Henry D.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sense of Safety instrument is to quantitatively assess the level of perceived safety among students. This measure is crucial for understanding the psychological impact of environmental factors and community violence exposure on children.

It serves as an outcome measure, often utilized within demonstration projects like the SAFE TO LEARN initiative, to gauge the effectiveness of programs designed to enhance school safety and community security. By focusing on the student’s subjective experience, the scale provides data essential for public health and educational policy decisions.

Construct

The scale measures the psychological construct of perceived safety, which is defined as an individual’s subjective belief in their freedom from danger, threat, or harm within a specific environment. Unlike objective measures of crime statistics, this instrument captures the affective and cognitive dimensions of security as experienced by the child.

The 11 items delineate three specific spheres of influence: safety while commuting to/from school, safety within the institutional setting of the school, and safety within the immediate home and neighborhood context. A higher score reflects a greater, more robust Sense of Safety, indicating positive personal attitudes and beliefs regarding environmental security.

Validity

Specific detailed reports on construct or criterion validity, such as correlations with established measures of anxiety or environmental risk, were not fully elaborated in the initial compendium source provided. However, the items demonstrate strong face validity, directly addressing core concerns related to physical and emotional security in environments frequented by youths.

The scale was developed as part of a comprehensive evaluation project (SAFE TO LEARN), suggesting its initial structure was informed by practical needs and expert consensus in the field of violence prevention and child health data analysis.

Reliability

Detailed internal consistency coefficients (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) or test-retest reliability data for the Sense of Safety psychological scale were not included in the source documentation. Researchers intending to use this instrument should consult subsequent publications or technical reports from the Child Health Data Lab to confirm standardized reliability estimates for diverse populations.

Factor Analysis

Information regarding the results of exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis is not provided in the source material. Given the item structure, which clearly segments safety feelings across three distinct geographical locations (school commute, school environment, neighborhood/home), it is plausible that a factor analysis would yield a structure reflecting these three environmental factors, though the scale is often treated as a single, unitary measure of overall perceived security.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire / Brief psychological scale

Format: 11 items utilizing a 3-point Likert scale response format.

Language Available: English (as presented in the source document).

Population Group: School-aged children and youths.

Age Group: Approximately 6 to 14 years old (corresponding to grades 1-8).

Population Details: Students in grades 1 through 8.

Test Methodology: Scoring is based on the mean item response of non-missing items. A minimum of six (6) items must be present to calculate a valid score. The response options are: Never=0, Sometimes=1, and Always=2. A higher total score indicates a greater Sense of Safety.

Keywords

Personal Attitudes and Beliefs, School and Academics, child assessment, violence exposure, perceived risk, security, Likert scale, prevention programs.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Henry D. was affiliated with the Child Health Data Lab, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, in 2000.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The instrument was utilized in the Pilot Study for the Evaluation of the SAFE TO LEARN Demonstration Project, with the initial technical report published in 2000.

As the scale was published in a public health compendium released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is generally considered to be in the public domain for research use, though specific usage permissions should be verified with the original author or the Child Health Data Lab.

Reference’s

Henry D. Initial report of the Pilot Study for the Evaluation of the SAFE TO LEARN Demonstration Project. Technical Report, Child Health Data Lab. Chicago: Children’s Memorial Hospital, 2000.

The instrument is documented on page 129 of Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools, published by the CDC. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Items of the Sense of Safety

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

• I feel safe on my way to school in the morning.
• I feel safe on the school grounds before school starts.
• I feel safe in my class at school.
• I feel safe at lunch in school.
• I feel safe in gym class at school.
• I feel safe after school before I go home.
• I feel safe on my way home from school.
• I feel safe at the park closest to my house.
• I feel safe outside of my house.
• I feel safe playing on my block.
• I feel safe walking around my neighborhood.