Thesis (M.P.H.)--Georgia State University, 2009. / Title from title page (Digital Archive@GSU, viewed July 20, 2010) Monica H. Swahn, committee chair; Jeffrey E. Hall, committee member. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-70).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-169) Also available in print.

D.Ed. / The frequency and intensity of aggression that has become an everyday reality to an increasing number of adolescents who perpetrate it, witness it or become its victims necessitates research of the phenomenon in context so that measures may be put in place to curb it or prevent it from occurring in the first place. Despite current legislation to protect the rights and safety of pupils, reports in literature on aggression in South African schools illustrate the ways in which aggression continues to have a detrimental impact on adolescents in secondary schools. Hence, the first research aim of this study, conducted within a psychoeducational framework, was to explore how adolescents experience aggression in an urban public secondary school in the Johannesburg South school district in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Based on the findings the second aim of the research study was to develop, implement and evaluate a psycho-educational programme for the constructive management of aggression that adolescents experienced in that context in order to facilitate improvements in their mental health. A mixed methods research design with an explorative, descriptive, explanatory and contextual focus was followed. The qualitative phase of the mixed methods design not only provided richer insight and understanding into the complex phenomenon of aggression in secondary schools but also served to provide a foundation for the quantitative stage of the study. The four criteria of truth-value, applicability, consistency and neutrality, identified by Guba to ensure trustworthiness in research, were applied. Ethical measures were strictly adhered to and included maintaining the confidentiality of the data and respecting the privacy, anonymity and the voluntary participation of the participants. Informed consent to conduct the research was obtained from the necessary authorities and from the research participants. The study was conducted in four phases as prescribed by programme development, implementation and evaluation. In phase one, the situation analysis phase, data was collected using phenomenological interviews and field notes which were verified by means of a literature control. The data generated from this phase was analysed using Tesch’s open coding method of analysing descriptive data. Three themes were identified that encapsulate the adolescents’ experience of aggression. The themes identified that adolescents are aware of their diverse experiences of aggression, that they experience aggression as an internal or external point of control in their lives and that they experience aggression as a barrier to healthy interpersonal relationships. The data was used in phase two as a basis to develop a psycho-educational programme aimed at teaching adolescent pupils the skills to manage the aggression they experience in secondary school in a constructive manner. Phase three saw the implementation of the psycho-educational programme. In phase four the researcher used an experimental research design to evaluate the efficacy of the programme. The results were analysed using rigorous statistical techniques. The narrative comments made by the participants to evaluate each workshop session were used to provide a qualitative evaluation of the programme process. The positive results obtained from both the qualitative and the quantitative evaluations of the psycho-educational programme suggest that it may be applied successfully to facilitate the constructive management of aggression that adolescents experience in the secondary school environment and in life so that they can attain mental health and actualise their full potential for a positive future.

While there are numerous issues influencing the development of America's children that need attention, school violence is among the most disturbing. Schools are a gathering place for nearly all children in America. When violence enters the school, all become concerned for the safety and well being of the children. To end the violence in American schools it is necessary to determine what factors contribute to the problem, and in what way professionals might take action to prevent further violence and to reduce what violence now exists. Florida in particular, is a state in need of this effort as its juvenile violent crime index is 680 for the 1998 arrest statistics; 173% higher than the national average (Snyder, 1998; see Table 1). Florida is also among the top three states, with Georgia and California, in numbers of school-related violent deaths (Stephens, 2000; see Table 2). This review is an effort to develop a greater awareness and understanding of the issues relevant to school violence through a review of scholarly literature published in the 1990's regarding school violence in America. The research base from which this review is compiled allows for summary of what programs are best used to intervene in this issue of school violence. Those programs which demonstrate effect by way of changed behavior/reduced problem behavior and/or prevention of problem behavior, are those which are: 1) broad in their range of factors targeted, 2) large in scope in terms of the age and developmental levels served, 3) multi-component strategies wherein a systems approach is utilized and all possible influences in a child's life are brought into the treatment plan in some form, 4) inclusive, serving both high and low risk children, 5) empirically based and with measures in place to track program effectiveness, 6) long term, 7) consistently implemented, across settings, with reliable training and ample support 8) focused on skills building and behavior change, and last, those which are 9) based in empirical research with demonstrated positive outcomes.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1994. / Includes tables and appendices. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Frank L. Smith. Dissertation Committee: Jeannette E. Fleischner. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-181).

Targeted school violence (TSV) in the United States is increasing, causing a loss of innocent lives and challenges for teachers and students in building rapport. In addition, TSV increases levels of anxiety and makes it difficult for parents and community members to believe students are safe while at school. Several studies have highlighted the fact that age may be a factor in school shootings, calling for future research to determine if age is indeed influential. The problem is to date age has not been established as a predictive factor, even though the extant research is beginning to identify possible variances. Guided by general strain theory and ceremonial violence, this study determined statistical significance between age and select variables in the personal, event, and ecological categories. This information could be illuminating to educators, mental health professionals, and law enforcement for threat assessment purposes. The information was gathered on all TSV members within the United States from 1966 to 2015 through archival data, and the data were analyzed using logistic regression, Pearson's correlation, and Spearman's correlation. Results indicated that, as age increases, the offenders are more likely to have a higher social status, have a mental health and criminal history, carry out their act in the afternoon, and choose a knife as a weapon. In addition, older offenders are less likely to be students and less likely to have been bullied. Implications for social change include modifications to current threat assessment protocol regarding weapon choice and previous mental health or criminal history, which could be utilized to change public policy for mandatory reporting of students identified as at risk. Also, younger offenders are being bullied more often than older offenders and this could add more awareness to antibullying program procedure and earlier mental health intervention.

Violence in schools is one of the most challenging issue facing educators, policy makers, learners, parents and the community at large. Sometimes it takes place without educators and parents being aware of it and in most cases, learners specifically girls are reluctant to report their experiences of violence. Because the entire community is continually searching for ways to curb this problem in schools, it is hoped that this study may offer some general insights. The primary aim of this research was to explore the perceptions of violence of educators and learners of their school and the perceptions of learners of measures taken by educators to curb violence in their school. The secondary aim was to develop guidelines in the form of recommendations, which would be useful to policy makers, educators, parents, learners and the entire community at large. In this study qualitative design was used and the case study method was employed. Purposeful sampling technique was used in selecting the educators for interviews and the learners for focus group interviews. Groups of six learners were chosen for focus group interviews and in the case of educators, five were selected. In the process of data analysis the researcher applied Marshall and Rossman's approach. The results showed that only a few educators were able to describe the concept of violence and no learner was able to describe the concept violence. With regards to corporal punishment, the research revealed that some educators are in favour of corporal punishment while others are not in favour of corporal punishment. From the study, it was noted that the following forms of violence are experienced in the school namely, violence in the form of corporal punishment, physical violence in the form of bullying and fighting, sexual violence as gender-based violence, verbal violence and violence in the form of stealing belongings. Furthermore the research revealed that learners were not in favour of measures used by educators to curb violence in the school more specifically corporal punishment and suspension or expulsion. As a matter of fact, it is important for the entire community to address the problem of violence in the schools. Several recommendations have been made to encourage the community to curb violence in its schools such as the Government, Ministry 0f Education and Culture, educators training institutions, school management, educators and learners should address the problem of violence in order to curb its spread in the schools. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Leadership and Policy Studies)--Vanderbilt University, May 2008. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Safety and security have become major educational problems in secondary schools because many learners report feeling unsafe in the school environment. For example, the South African Institute of Race Relation conducted a research study in 2008 that indicated that 23 percent of learners still feel unsafe in their schools. Typical of present-day schooling system, teachers are scared of learners, and that is why many parents - even the poorest of the poor- are taking their children to former model C schools. The problem that was researched was the impact of violence in schools and how it affects learners and teachers' performance. The study was conducted in the Rustenburg District of Bojanala Region in the North West Province, South Africa. Data was collected from five (5) secondary schools because of their history of violence. A questionnaire was set to ensure that the questions were structured not to miss any important factor of violence in schools. Individual teachers and learners were questioned in face-to-face interview. The tape recorder was used to record the interview sessions because it is reliable, and taped answers can be analysed by several judges. Qualitative research analysis was used to interpret the data to draw inferences as well as conclusions. Inferences drawn from the survey were that there was a 70% certainty that violence contributed to low performance in schools; 52.7% agreement that violence causes physical and bodily harm; 48.7% certainty that violence can be addressed. / Thesis (M.Ed) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

Thesis (M.S.S.W) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.