Thomas K. Capozzoli and R. Steve McVey

About the author: Thomas K. Capozzoli is an associate professor of organizational leadership at Purdue University. R. Steve McVey is a research associate at the National Center for the Management of Workplace Violence. McVey served for twenty-six years in the FBI, where he participated in psychological analyses of criminal behaviors. Capozzoli and McVey wrote Managing Violence in the Workplace and Kids Killing Kids: Managing Violence and Gangs in Schools, from which the following viewpoint was taken.

School administrators, parents, and students should be aware of a number of triggers that might lead a student to commit violent acts at school. These triggers include, but are not limited to, personality conflicts with teachers or other students, abusive or...