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A safe (free from gang activity) and disciplined school environment conducive to learning is mandated by federal legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act. Research has concentrated on reasons for gang activity in the school and the community as well as leadership in general but there is a void in the literature as it relates to the type of leadership in schools that is successful in limiting gang activity in schools that are less gang-impacted than the community from which they draw. Research questions include: (1) what do principals say about how they lead in gang-impacted schools that have fewer gang-related incidents than the community from which they draw their population and (2) what is the connection between principal leadership style and the presence of relatively fewer gang-related incidents in schools than in the community from which they draw their population? This phenomenological study answered the question of how principals lead in gang-impacted schools with a more favorable environment than the communities they serve through interviews, observations and document analysis. The final product is the portraits and stories of principals' relationships with gang-impacted schools and the central concept of leadership in these types of schools. According to the three participants interviewed in this study, both transactional and transformational leadership attributes are necessary to lead a gang-impacted school that has fewer gang-related incidents than the community from which it draws. The underlying conclusion in this research study is that leaders who display more transformational leadership than transactional leadership attributes are more successful in gang-impacted schools. As a result of this study, principals who are placed in schools identified as being gang-impacted will be better equipped to identify and practice leadership behaviors that have worked for other school leaders. In addition, school districts will be better able to identify and provide staff development to and for potential leaders as it relates to leadership. / Ed. D.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-148).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-148) Also available in print.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:46:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2294.pdf: 2951635 bytes, checksum: 610c81c21213dee86650b3f2b4cef9ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-09 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / The school context was pointed out as favorable in regards to violence prevention efforts. However, Brazilian studies revealed the existence of violence in the schools, in spite of the absence of valid instruments, and most studies without strict scientific methods. In addiction, these studies did not evaluate different violence risk schools, and few investigated its contributing factors. The present study encompasses two parts. Study 1 had as objectives: (a) to develop and conduct the apparent validity of an instrument to assess school violence, and (b) to develop and perform a pilot test of an instrument aimed at assessing school employees` perception about how a school violence prevention program should be. Study 2 characterized the violence experienced in three schools with diverse risk indicators, according to multiple informants, as well as the perception of the staff about school violence prevention, using the instruments developed in Study 1. Participants involved 706 students, from grades 5-8th, 88 employees of three public schools of Curitiba (Southern Brazil) and six researchers in the area of violence. The instruments were efficient and had good acceptance by the participants. Violence rates in the schools were high regardless of the risk that they were exposed to. Antecedents to aggressive behaviors were examined (i.e. to students victims the most frequent motive for aggressions was violent play). It was also shown that the most common modality of violent behaviors, according to victimized students, was name calling. Consequences to aggressive behaviors by students were also indentified, and the most frequent alternative in this regard was nothing happened . In general, students pointed out that the higher risk school did not differentiate from the intermediate risk school or from the minor risk school, although the minor risk school was more associated with violence than the intermediate risk school. According to staff, the higher risk school was more violent, followed by the intermediate school. The higher risk school was more associated with substance abuse by students, the existence of gangs, drug dealing, and possession of weapons. Staff considered relevant to prevent violence in the schools, but only the higher risk school employees declared it to be more important than other objectives. Psychologists and police officers, followed by parents, were the most frequent sources indentified in terms of involvement with school violence prevention programs. In conclusion, the present study was able to characterize how school violence presents itself, and to investigate contributing variables to the problem. Nevertheless, it is important to replicate the study, and to perform other steps in terms of validation of the instrument, as well as covering the aspects needed for intervention studies, in accordance with the literature. / O contexto escolar foi apontado como favorável para a realização de prevenção de violência. Contudo, estudos brasileiros apontaram a existência de violência em escolas, ainda que com instrumentos não validados e, em sua maioria, sem seguirem todos os preceitos científicos. Além disso, não deliberadamente avaliaram escolas com diferentes graus de risco para a violência e poucas investigaram fatores contribuintes. Essa dissertação se divide em dois estudos. O estudo 1 teve como objetivos: (a) criar e realizar a validação aparente de um instrumento que avaliasse violência escolar e (b) criar e aplicar em teste piloto um instrumento que investigasse a percepção de funcionários sobre um programa de prevenção de violência escolar. O estudo 2 caracterizou a violência vivenciada em três escolas com indicadores de risco diferenciados, de acordo com múltiplos informantes, e investigou percepções de funcionários sobre prevenção de violência escolar, tendo utilizado dos instrumentos desenvolvidos no estudo 1. Participaram da pesquisa 706 alunos, de 5ª. a 8ª. séries, 88 funcionários de três escolas públicas da cidade de Curitiba e seis pesquisadores da área de violência. Os instrumentos foram eficientes e tiveram boa aceitação do público-alvo, foram altos os índices de violência na escola independentemente do risco a que a escola estivesse exposta. Delinearam-se condições antecedentes a comportamentos agressivos (por exemplo, os alunos vítimas referiram que o motivo mais freqüentemente para as agressões foram brincadeiras violentas). Revelou-se, também, a topografia dos comportamentos violentos, por exemplo, para os alunos vítimas a forma de vitimização mais comum foi xingamentos e/ou apelidos. Aludiu-se, também, condições conseqüentes aos comportamentos agressivos dos alunos, como a alternativa nada aconteceu ser a mais assinalada. Em geral, os alunos apontaram que a escola mais exposta a riscos (Escola MAR) não se diferenciou da escola exposta a risco intermediário (Escola INR) e da menor risco (Escola MER), porém a Escola MER foi mais violenta que a INR. Para os funcionários, a escola MAR foi a mais violenta, seguida pela INR e esta pela MER, sendo que a escola MAR estava mais relacionada ao abuso de substâncias por alunos, gangues, tráfico de drogas e porte de armas. Os funcionários consideraram relevante prevenir violência, porém somente na escola MAR este objetivo foi mais importante que outros. Nas três escolas, profissionais que são de fora da escola, seguido pelos pais, foram os mais citados como quem deveria realizar prevenção. Em conclusão, o estudo traçou um panorama da violência escolar e investigou variáveis contribuintes, porém seria importante replicá-lo, realizando outras etapas da validação dos instrumentos e abordando os aspectos percebidos em estudos de intervenção.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in Technology: Public Administration-Peace Studies, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / Since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the issue of achieving sustainable peace and development has remained a challenge due to a lack of comprehensive approaches to issues of human rights violations. With such a problem, it becomes easy for individuals and society to use violence as a means to an end and, thus, it has become culturally acceptable, not only in political spheres but also in the school sphere. Therefore, this study aims to promote positive attitudes among students to reduce levels of bullying and to enable to realise the prevention mechanisms that exist within themselves through an action research intervention. Action research with a group of ten students was used create awareness on the negative impact of bullying and also the importance of creating and maintaining peaceful schools. Research proved that violent behaviour among students appears to be a serious problem at Prince Edward School and at Cranborne High School. I worked together with students in two schools to design, implement and evaluate a programme designed to reduce bullying behaviour. It is recommended that students, academic staff, police and the Ministry of Education work together to design interventions that include students in reducing bullying in schools. / M

The focus of this thesis falls on school violence. The research addresses the possibility that a culture of violence exists amongst some South African school-going youth. The researcher identified the attitudes and behaviour of learners towards violence as indicators of the culture of these learners. The research specifically focused on the pro-violence attitudes and violent behaviour of learners. The definition of ‘culture’ which was employed suggests the link between a person’s attitude, behaviour and culture. Information was gathered through literature and empirical research. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire with closed-ended questions and a well-tested tool, namely the Attitudes towards Violence Scale. The results of the empirical research were analyzed with the SPSS Windows data editor computer program. Conclusions and recommendations regarding school violence were made. In addition, a programme to curb such violence was proposed. Some suggestions for further research into this subject were also advanced. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

The focus of this thesis falls on school violence. The research addresses the possibility that a culture of violence exists amongst some South African school-going youth. The researcher identified the attitudes and behaviour of learners towards violence as indicators of the culture of these learners. The research specifically focused on the pro-violence attitudes and violent behaviour of learners. The definition of ‘culture’ which was employed suggests the link between a person’s attitude, behaviour and culture. Information was gathered through literature and empirical research. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire with closed-ended questions and a well-tested tool, namely the Attitudes towards Violence Scale. The results of the empirical research were analyzed with the SPSS Windows data editor computer program. Conclusions and recommendations regarding school violence were made. In addition, a programme to curb such violence was proposed. Some suggestions for further research into this subject were also advanced. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

This explorative study investigated bullying in a sample of schools in Lesotho from the learner’s perspective. A review of the existing literature formed the basis for the offered description of the phenomenon. The work examined concise definitions of bullying, school violence, victim and bully. The research described various forms of bullying, reason for and possible intervention strategies. The quantitative research method was applied, which included an analysis of the data obtained from a questionnaire containing 33 close-ended questions divided into six sections: general information; observation of bullying; experience of bullying; impact of bullying; participation in bullying activities and reasons for bullying and measures against it. The questionnaires were distributed among 1 373 learners from Lesotho public schools which were used for the study. The research was brought to a conclusive end with a proposal for school bullying intervention strategies in Lesotho public schools. / Criminology / M.A. (Criminology)

This explorative study investigated bullying in a sample of schools in Lesotho from the learner’s perspective. A review of the existing literature formed the basis for the offered description of the phenomenon. The work examined concise definitions of bullying, school violence, victim and bully. The research described various forms of bullying, reason for and possible intervention strategies. The quantitative research method was applied, which included an analysis of the data obtained from a questionnaire containing 33 close-ended questions divided into six sections: general information; observation of bullying; experience of bullying; impact of bullying; participation in bullying activities and reasons for bullying and measures against it. The questionnaires were distributed among 1 373 learners from Lesotho public schools which were used for the study. The research was brought to a conclusive end with a proposal for school bullying intervention strategies in Lesotho public schools. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)