Professor Ron Astor, who holds joint appointments in the USC School of Social Work and USC Rossier School of Education, has won the 2007 Outstanding Book Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA). School Violence in Context: Neighborhood, Family, School and Gender, published by Oxford University Press, was co-authored with Professor Rami Benbenishty of Hebrew University.

The award, which is given for the best book-length publication in educational research and development, was presented at the association's 88th annual meeting in Chicago on April 11. To be considered for the award, a book must be concerned with improving the educational process through research or scholarly inquiry.

In awarding the association's top honor, the selection committee noted the book's "compelling analysis of all forms of school violence and victimization [which] examines the context and influence of individual, school and community factors and reveals the continuity of many of these factors across cultures and national boundaries. It is cogently written and substantially advances understanding of violence in schools."

Said Astor, "For us, it's a really nice accomplishment that we are actually influencing theories in multiple disciplines and putting forth innovative research methods that many other areas of research can use as state-of-the-art models," Astor said. "This is a great example of how social work and education as research fields can become innovators for many other theories and methods."

The book presents original data and analyses from 8,750 students in U.S. schools and 15,000 in Israel, while integrating diverse theories and research from several disciplines. Drawing on one of the most comprehensive and representative studies of school violence ever conducted, the authors explore and differentiate the many manifestations of victimization in schools, providing a new model for understanding school violence in context.

Astor's and Benbenishty's research has forged national municipal policy in Israel and fueled interest in research as a basis for the prevention and implementation of school violence programs. Already, laws concerning teacher education, school climate goals and special resources for vulnerable populations have emerged as a direct result of their research. Astor is currently exploring similar issues in Los Angeles schools.

The book previously won second-place honors from the 2006 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association's Division One. Astor's work also was recognized last year with the Distinguished Research Award from the AERA's Division E for his co-authorship of "The Contributions of Community, Family and School Variables to Student Victimization," published in the American Journal of Community Psychology. In 2000, Astor received AERA's Palmer O. Johnson Award for best education research article.