Crisis Intervention

Many questions have been raised about the role of school psychologists in crisis intervention (i.e., strategies to use in a crisis) over the last two decades. Poland and Pitcher (1992) emphasized the need for schools to be prepared for violence that might come from outside the school, such as a violent act committed by a disturbed adult. The highly publicized school shootings that occurred in the mid-to-late 1990s, including the mass murders at Columbine High School, highlight the fact that school safety is an inside job requiring a commitment first of all from students, as the majority of the recent violent acts at schools have been committed by student perpetrators. There has been an increased level of emphasis on crisis training for school psychologists in ...