This study intends to explore the very relevant and current issue of violence at school level. Through this case study the experiences of an educator with regard to violence in a secondary school are explored.</p.> Data for this study was collected through observation and unstructured interviews with the participant. Data collected was analysed through several phases of establishing thematic categories. This analysis was done within the parameters of a scientific literature framework. The six main categories were discussed and interpreted in terms of literature to provide the findings portrayed by the study. To ensure the dependability and quality of the data the study incorporated member checking and literature control. An attempt was made to contribute to, and expand upon, the existing body of knowledge with regard to this very important phenomenon. The results of this study show that the educator experiences violence in school as a very serious reality. This study argues that the causes of school violence should be studied from an integrative perspective and it supports the Bio-Ecological Systems theory as a multi-dimensional approach to understanding school violence. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

This research investigated the strategies used by school administrators in selected high schools to prevent or reduce gang-related activity and violence. Interviews were conducted with six high school principals, six assistant principals, fifteen staff members and eleven students. All of the students were gang members. The results of the study showed that there are gang members in all schools, but that their gang activity at school is curtailed by some specific strategies.

The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive study was to obtain insight into how Grade 9 learners (average age of 15 years) in a secondary rural school conceptualise school violence. The study was framed by a social constructionism paradigm, focusing on the co-construction of knowledge and meanings by the researcher and participants through personal engagement. Bronfenbrenner‟s Bioecological Theory of Human Development, operationalised by the Process-Person-Context-Time Model, provided a theoretical grounding for the inquiry. An instrumental case study design was followed, whereby nine Grade 9 learners (4 boys and 5 girls) in a rural secondary school participating in an academic service learning project were conveniently selected as the unit of study. Qualitative data from a focus group and task-based activities were transcribed, whilst participant observations were documented in a research journal through photographs. Constructivist grounded theory principles guided the thematic analysis. Three primary themes emerged: Violence as behaviour; Violence as experience and Power and authority. Findings indicate that school violence was perpetuated by both peers and teachers, in physical and verbal forms. Corporal punishment continued to be a prevalent strategy for maintaining discipline and authority within the school. It was also evident in the findings that learners differentiated between acts of school violence and play-fighting according to the intentions and responses of those involved. Contradictory sentiments regarding the acceptability of school violence emerged. On the one hand participants wanted school violence to stop, describing it as hurtful. However, they also expressed views that when used by someone in authority for the purpose of discipline or protection, school violence was appropriate and acceptable. Therefore, the current study suggests that participants view school violence in a duplicitous role – used negatively to cause harm, but also positively to enforce order and protect. This study contributes to literature by providing youth-generated conceptualisations of school violence. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Education in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Zululand, 2000. / This study investigated the management of gender conflict among high school learners. The researcher has identified the types of gender conflict that are perceived to be more serious and the frequencies of different types of gender conflict. The researcher has also determined the ways of managing gender conflict in the high school and established alternative approaches of managing it. Finally, the research recommends possible initiatives on the part of the management staff, educators, learners, governing body and parents, as well as the community at large to promote gender equity * and peaceful coexistence in schools.

The present study examined the relationship between individual, family, and school variables and both bullying and victimization. Approximately equal numbers of males and females (N = 1185 and 1174, respectively) were randomly selected from classrooms in 11 middle schools across 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Students completed questionnaires including items from each domain. Questionnaires assessed bullying and victimization, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, family factors, and school variables. In addition, teachers of the selected classrooms completed a brief rating scale on each of the students, which assessed student moodiness, behavioral difficulties, and learning problems. Achievement and discipline records data were obtained. Based on their responses to critical items, participants were categorized into Bully, Victim, Bully/Victim, and comparison Control groups. Multivariate analyses, with follow-up univariate and discriminant function analyses, tested the association of variables within the individual, family, teacher report, and school domains with bullying group membership. Analyses were examined by grade and gender effects as well. Results indicated that variables within each of the domains significantly contributed to differences between bullying groups, by grade and gender. Specifically, bullies and bully/victims appeared to have the poorest reported adjustment in terms of behavioral difficulties, family functioning, and school variables, while both victims and bully/victims experienced greater internalizing difficulties. Bullies and bully/victims tended to have the poorest outcomes; however, victims reported poorer peer relationships and perceptions of school. Overall, depression, anxiety, and the expression of anger accounted for the majority of group differences. School variables, particularly peer relationships, a sense of school spirit, and perceptions of climate and adult availability at school, played a secondary role in explaining differences among groups. These findings varied by gender and grade. Illustratively, bullying intervention programs could, in part, focus on those characteristics that are more strongly related to certain groups of students (i.e., anger expression for females and school conditions for younger students).

School violence has gained attention in recent years with the rise of aggressive behavior in schools across the United States. With increased understanding of this problem, school district administrators might implement prevention strategies or assess current school violence policies and programs. Using the conceptual framework of general strain theory, a case study was conducted in an urban school district in the northeastern United States that was experiencing increased student violence. The purpose of this case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of school violence to increase the understanding of the problem at the study site. All certified teachers in the study district were invited to participate. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 teachers in 9 elementary schools. After compiling, disassembling, reassembling, and coding the data, various themes emerged. The findings from the interviews revealed a need for district-wide consistency to address school violence, professional development to train staff on violence related issues and mandates, and a program to combat as well as prevent the existence of violence in the school climate. A recommendation is that the school district adopts the School Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Supports to provide a framework of consistent management of student behavior and professional development practices within a district-wide violence prevention program. The study contributes to positive social change by increasing the understanding of school violence at the study site and providing the recommended program designed to improve school climate, student learning, and social behavior through a tier leveled system designed to reach all levels of school violence.

Despite their almost aberrational rarity, rampage school shootings have gained national attention to an extent that would make it seem that such events are a common occurrence. Many schools—along with hospitals, businesses, and other institutions—have adopted policies, implemented training, and conducted drills for responding to such incidents. In some cases, concern over school rampage shootings has led to bad policy implementations, particularly adoption of “zero tolerance” policies that punish the slightest infractions in hopes of thwarting potential attackers, but, rather than achieving their intended goal, result in massive false positive rates with few, if any, successes and a potential for fostering violence rather than abating it. For their part, law enforcement trainers and administrators have been caught in the rampage school shooter turmoil to such an extent that, starting with the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, significant paradigm shifts in policing methodology have taken effect. In order to promote more informed policy-making and training decisions by law enforcement managers, this dissertation seeks to determine through empirical study of the crime scene behaviors of rampage school shooters the extent to which law enforcement planning and training can be informed by the study of prior incidents. Policy, training protocols, and institutional response plans have been shaped, in many cases, by a world of perception rather than reason and sound empirical evidence. This research seeks to bring clarity to the decision-making processes and provide sound empirical evidence on which to base those decisions and develop strategies for on-site protocols to help mitigate casualties, establish police response protocols, and develop post-incident investigative models.

In recent years, a number of secondary schools in the Kirinyaga district of Central Province of Kenya have experienced riots and boycotts. The major objective of this study was to understand why students disrupt the normal processes of schooling. Students' perceptions were obtained by examining their attitudes, ideas, opinions, morals, and myths about these uprisings. The study was phenomenological in nature and was informed by the symbolic interactionism (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992). Data were collected from six diverse secondary schools: three all boys schools, two all girls schools, and one co-educational school. Multiple sources of data and methods of collection allowed for triangulation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 ex-students, nine staff members, and one central office administrator. Interviews were open-ended, interactive, and designed to encourage the respondents to share their stories, beliefs, and standpoints. Written case histories, school-level and district-level documents, and students' records helped contextualize the interviews and past events. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Respondents spoke to causes, dimensions, conditions, types, processes, and consequences of the disruptions. It was found that some disruptions were spontaneous and fueled by students' established cultural norms which dictated fights for power and status. Other disruptions were carefully planned to draw the attention of school administrators and teachers to perceived grievances and issues that students cared about. The data also indicated that some of the disruptions were instigated by adult members of the community who were motivated by financial and power gains. Furthermore, respondents narrated experiences of physical hurt and psychological harm, plus damage to school property and financial losses incurred during riots and boycotts. It was observed that the secondary students were not motivated about their schooling experiences. For many students schools lacked relevance given the rapid changes and dislocations experienced by their culture, and the uncertainties of employment. The study acknowledges it is difficult for schools to respond adequately to deep-seated stresses of modernization processes. The study concludes by recommending fundamental changes in educational structure and certification in order to overcome archaic vestiges of the British system in formerly colonized Kenya.

In the aftermath of school shootings, safety in educational institutions became a national concern. The Zero Tolerance policy was designed to remove students who posed serious and or imminent threat to the school environment. It was hoped that the institution of this policy would allow schools to better police student behaviors through the use of tough disciplinary actions, and to ensure a safer learning environment for all. However, one of the latent consequences of establishing a broad set of directives was to result in the differential treatment of some minority groups such as special education students. To date, there exists little research that tests the efficacy of the zero tolerance approach in reducing school violence or its effect upon special education students who exhibit unique and separate characteristics from the general student body. Some of the behaviors that are beyond their control can impede their learning, but are even more often seen as falling under the guidelines of the zero tolerance policy, which in turn subjects this group to a number of disciplinary actions previously not utilized to address their specific needs. To address the potential impact this policy has on students with learning and emotional behavioral disorders this study analyzes data from a sample comprising of 2,736 total schools, reported over 4 different time periods, 1999-2008 originally collected by the School Survey on Crime and Safety. This study examines the relationship between various school characteristics, the proportion of special education students in a school, and the use of the disciplinary actions as a means of controlling behaviors that could be undesired but may not pose a serious threat to the educational institution. iv The results indicate that presence of students identified as “special education students” was strongly related to the number of disruptive behaviors reported. The increased frequency of those reported behaviors was also found to be significantly related to the use of suspension and expulsions as disciplinary actions in a school. Further multiple regression analysis yielded data demonstrating the nature of the relationships between the presence of special education students in a school, the frequency of disruptive behaviors reported, and the increased use of disciplinary actions.

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