ERIC ED564113: Violence against Teachers--Rule or Exception?

2013·0.33 MB·English

by  ERIC

(IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in science, engineering and education
Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS- RULE OR EXCEPTION?

Maja Lokmić, MD student, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Siniša Opić, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Vesna Bilić, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb
E-mail: [email protected]

UDK: 37.064.2(497.5)"2013”;
316.624-057.874(497.5)"2013"

Abstract: The objective of this study is to tation (according to WHO - World Health
examine the prevalence of violence against teachers Organization, 2006; Bilić et al., 2012).
by students. The study included 175 teachers, five
In their schools, teachers are most of-
primary and five secondary schools. The age of
ten exposed to traditional forms of vio-
respondents (teachers) ranges from 20 to 65, with
average age being 44,33 years. The used instrument lence, i.e. physical, verbal and social.
has assessed violence against teachers and has con- Physical violence is defined as deliberate,
sisted of data about the characteristics of respond- repeated or one-time rough infliction of
ents, frequency and type of violence experienced
pain and/ or body injuries by another per-
from students.
son that involves potential risk of physical
The results suggest that violence against
teachers in primary and secondary schools in Za- harm and consequences of which may or
greb taken in to sample is very much present. Since may not be visible (WHO, 2006; Bilić et
74,3% teachers has experienced violence from their al., 2012). Verbal violence is the most
students during the year that kind of behavior is
common form and it is defined as deliber-
more of a rule than an exception. Students in prima-
ate use of inappropriate and harsh words to
ry and secondary schools show violent behavior
against their teachers at an equal level. Male teach- hurt another person. Students use it, as well
ers, as opposed to female teachers, are more fre- as parents sometimes, too, and it is directed
quently victims of violent behavior (posting inap- to teachers in order to express their discon-
propriate content online) from their students. Also,
tent. It involves demoralization of the vic-
there is a statistically significant correlation (nega-
tim, name-calling, insults, ridicule, humili-
tive) between age (years of service in school) and
frequency of experienced violence from students. ation, contemplation, and disregard of re-
Keywords: violence, teachers, schools, stu- sults. Social (relational) violence includes
dents, parents, violent behaviour. saying untruths about the victim in order to

humiliate and undermine his/her dignity. It

is expressed by ignoring, avoiding, gossip-
INTRODUCTION
ing, refusing collaboration, and sabotaging

teacher's work (Kauppi, Pöröhölä, 2012).
Social violence can be expressed directly
When talking about violence that is or indirectly. Thanks to the advance of
present in school environment, what occurs modern technology, electronic violence is
most often is violence among students, becoming more present and is defined as
rarer that teachers sometimes inappropri- intentional infliction of pain and injury, in
ately use force, but what is rather neglected order to damage the reputation, status and
is the fact that teachers themselves are in- dignity of the victim, i.e. the teacher, by
creasingly subjected to harassment by their using electronic devices and their modali-
students. Violence is defined as any form ties, especially mobile phones, Internet and
of physical and/or emotional abuse, and increasingly popular social networks. What
also unfair treatment of people, which re- especially contribute this form of violence
sults in real or potential danger for their is anonymity and the feeling that the perpe-
health and dignity, i.e. harming their repu- trator would not be revealed. Violent activ-
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(IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in science, engineering and education
Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
ities can happen at any time and from any included 364 teachers, has shown that
electronic device, so it is justified to dis- teachers have experienced violence from
cuss continuous violence from an unknown students in the period of last thirty days.
location, which is seen as „pervasive“. The The results are: verbal violence 35,4%,
victim is always available to the perpetra- personal property damage 12,4% and phys-
tors and there are minimal chances for ical violence 4,9%. Thus, 49% of surveyed
them to defend themselves from inappro- teachers have had negative experiences.
priate content, as well as for the perpetrator In a study conducted by Kauppi,
to be discovered. This information are Pöröhölä (2012) in Finland, it can be seen
spread easily and at uncontrolled speed, that 25,6% of teachers has experienced
they are available to a large number of violence, out of which 3,3% experience it
people and remain long recorded on web- every week, 3,7% almost every day and
sites, which makes this form of electronic 67,4% have almost never experienced vio-
violence very harmful (Bilić, 2007). Stef- lence from students.
gen et al. (2007) believe that lack of empa- We can conclude that violence
thy is a risk factor for electronic bullying. against teachers is present in countries of
A lack of direct contact with the victim in different cultures around the world, though
virtual world is a possible reason for great- not equally frequent. As the previously
er cruelty, as the suffering of the victim stated results suggest, the most common
does not appear obvious. type of violence from students is verbal.
Although the results show that physical
Distribution and perpetrator of violence violence against teachers is rarer, they are
against teachers unfortunately, not spared from that expres-
sion of it.
Although rare, studies on violence If we compare results from similar
against teachers show that this kind of vio- surveys conducted in our neighboring
lence is not uncommon. Thus, in a study countries: in Slovenia, 17,9% of teachers
conducted in 48 federal states of America have experienced physical violence from
(ATPATF-The American Psychological their students, while 31,3% experienced
Association Task Force, 2011), has shown verbal violence.
that 80% of teachers had reported violence, In Serbia, Popadić and Plut (2006)
of which 94% have experienced insults have conducted a study on violence against
from their students, 44% in a combination teachers in primary schools and found that,
with a physical attack, and 50% theft or according students' opinion (N=26 628),
property damage (APA 2011; Espelage et 42% of teachers have experienced vio-
al., 2013). In a study conducted in Turkey lence: 3,8% often, 9,6% more times and
(Mehmet, OS, 2012), it was found that 28,6% once or twice in a period of three
teachers often experience emotional vio- months. Physical violence was experienced
lence (24,1%), verbal (14,7%) and physical by 0,6% of teachers frequently, 1.1% more
(6,3%). A report released by SEED - times, 6,6% once or twice. Thus, according
Scottish Executive Education Department to the studies carried out in our region, it is
(2004) shows that teachers in Scotland evident that in our schools violence is pre-
have reported 6.899 acts by students, dominantly verbal, while physical is less
which had happened inside and outside present.
school during the academic year In Croatia, (Russo, A., Milić, R.,
2002/2003. Out of that number, 25% is Knežević, B., & Mulić, R., 2008) have
verbal, 45% is physical, 29% is multiple, conducted research in Split that included
verbal and physical violence and 0,8% is teachers (N=764) in primary and secondary
property damage. A study conducted in schools. It has been found that 22.4% of
Slovakia (Dzuka, Dalbert, 2007), which
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(IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in science, engineering and education
Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
teachers have experienced emotional vio- the structure of manifested inappropriate
lence at least once in the past 12 months. behavior with regard to gender of students,
Violence against teachers, whether age and work experience of teachers and
physical, verbal, emotional, direct or indi- the use of indirect forms of harassment
rect, leaves a deep mark on self-confidence through electronic interfaces.
and self-esteem of teachers, so it can be
assumed that it hinders their work and af- Reasons for the emergence of violence
fects their job satisfaction and perfor- against teachers
mance, makes it difficult to create a
healthy atmosphere in the classroom, and It seems that teachers are often „un-
all this combined has an impact on final protected victims of school violence“
development and success of students. (Bilić, 2007), due to a lack of education in
Perpetrators of violence against the family, children's non-recognition of
teachers are students and their parents, and any kind of authority and a very strong
colleagues as well, which is not uncom- influence of peers and the media from
mon. Limited number of studies dealing which, as a result of a lack of control, they
with this phenomenon have shown that receive age- inappropriate that they repro-
teachers are still often victims of their stu- duce through their behavior. A very strong
dents and their parents. That study (Evans reason for the emergence of violent behav-
Johnson, 2008) was conducted in Atlanta ior may be stress that occurs because of
(N=117) and it shows that 57,2% second- environmental influences, mostly because
ary school teachers had experienced verbal of the situation at school.
violence by parents. Physical violence had The references state a number of
been experienced by 2,5% of teachers possible causes of students’ violent behav-
once, 0,9% had experienced it twice, while ior against their teachers (Bilić, 2007; Es-
property damage was experienced by 4,2% pelage et al., 2013). The most common
of teachers. causes are: „supporting violent methods on
From the research carried out by all levels even if we declaratively stand
Reddy (Espelage et al., 2013), in the Unit- against them (for example, those who got
ed States, it can be found that 37% of rich in unlawful ways, taking what does
teachers had been exposed to violent inci- not belong to them and who achieve their
dents by parents and 21% by their col- goals in an aggressive way are considered
leagues. Results have shown that while successful); neglecting moral values and
growing up, verbal aggression among moral education in general, especially
peers in primary and secondary school when it comes to respect that is considered
grows proportionately and that girls, on old-fashioned; violent acts usually remain
average, are more prosocially oriented than unpunished; bullies and abusers are most
boys, thus, when in conflict, they use not often heroes of many TV shows, movies,
use different patterns of verbal aggression video and computer games, as well as our
as a much as boys do, except when it neighborhoods“(Bilić, 2007, p.63).
comes to bickering/squabbling and shout- In the background of these students'
ing (Milašin, Vranić Buljubašić, Kuz- actions stands behavior learned in family.
manović, 2009). Some of the factors that encourage violent
The above-mentioned results promp- behavior can be: dysfunctional families
ted us to examine prevalence and types of that do not develop child's empathy, due to
violence against teachers in primary and a lack of commitment of family members a
secondary schools in Zagreb and determine sense of inferiority and resentment can
the frequency of such experience. In addi- occur, so the child wants to stand out and
tion, after conducting a survey, we have dominate outside it. A family needs to
obtained answers to questions concerning raise children, convey to them the correct
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(IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in science, engineering and education
Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
moral views that they will apply in there posed to. Lack of control and careful selec-
later life. In case it does not, children be- tion of content available to children
come self- centered, do not accept any- through television, internet and magazines,
one’s authority, expect that everything can lead to misreading what has been seen.
adapt to them and behave violently in order Children can get the impression that what
to achieve their intentions. Possible rea- they see is acceptable behavior and copy
sons are indulgent parents who do not set such behavior into every day situation.
boundaries for their children’s behavior Parents are the ones who should develop
and tolerate violent behavior or parents children’s sense of good and bad actions.
who themselves are abusers. Additionally, School situation is very often, due to
messages that parents transmit to their stress that develops in students, considered
children, such as: “…if you come across the third reason for violent behavior. Stress
something you do not like, the easiest way can be caused by teachers, classmates, and
is to accuse someone who caused such parents. Children are used to being im-
feelings, or if a teacher does not give you portant to their parents`, having all the at-
or disregards your suggestion, we will tention and they expect that they are treat-
simply complain about it (to director, in- ed the same way in school. A problem can
spection)” (Bilić, 2007, p.48). arise when they do have not experience
One of the reasons is that children that in the same degree and then seek to
and their parents have understood chil- stand out, attract attention, which, depend-
dren’s rights over-simplified: children have ing on temperament, can be violent.
all rights, but they do not have any respon- Teachers can also encourage violence with
sibilities. Instead of talking about chil- their actions. A series of poor grades and
dren’s problems and cooperating with constant criticism directed toward the same
teachers, to any complaint or warning that student can hurt him, make him feel like he
does not favor them or every grade they is not loved the same way as others that he
are not satisfied with, they threaten with is considered less valuable and then can
lawsuits to abuse (Bilić, 2008, p.47). respond with violent behavior. Teachers
Another factor that has a major im- who use their authority to develop relation-
pact on students aggressiveness against ships with their students that encourage
teachers, as stated by many authors respecting given rules and the one who
(Bushman, Huesmann, 2001; Kunczik, determines them, will have fewer problems
Zipfel, 2007), is the influence of media. with violence than teachers who are too
Media can be useful fur studying and indulgent and who have not clearly defined
learning if the content is appropriate, but what is tolerable, and what is not. Class-
not if they are full of violence. We can mates are often divided into groups in
extract short-term and long-term negative which an individual stands out as a leader
effects of media. A research has shown who determines the behavior of the whole
that children who had watched a violent group. A leader who acts violently against
movie during a game, acted more aggres- a teacher will gather around a small group
sive in mutual interaction. Children who of students with similar characteristics,
are frequently exposed to violent content who will encourage each other in eliciting
on television act more aggressively, as well a teacher, disrupting classes, and ignoring
as those who grew up watching violence the teacher’s authority. Individuals in that
on television have tendencies to more fre- group might not usually be violent, but
quent violent behavior in later childhood they care about being accepted by their
and adolescence (Paik, Comstock, 2004; peers, perhaps to avoid their taunts, so they
Bushman, Huesmann, 2001). Parents are try to fit in by being violent to teachers.
certainly the most responsible for control-
ling media content which children are ex-
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Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
Theoretical explanations for students’ are two types of aggressiveness called the
violent actions pursuit of elevation that helps in overcom-
ing difficulties and acquiring knowledge,
In order to find out why students and malignant, which we focus on in this
become aggressive, we need to consider work as a source of violent behavior, i.e. a
some theories about the cause of such be- destructive tendency that occurs under the
havior. There are four groups of factors influence of social situations.
that influence development of violent be- When talking about Pavlov’s theory
havior in children: interpersonal (biologi- of classical conditioning (1972, Essau,
cal, psychological and genetic), family and Conradt, 2006), aggressive behavior occurs
other close connections, school and com- if a stimulus that causes aggressive reac-
munity, culture and media (Velki, 2012). tion occurs simultaneously with a neutral
When children break the rules, they environmental stimulus, and the aggressive
assess themselves as being a bad person, reaction can be tied to it (Essau, Conradt,
feel powerless, and sometimes these feel- 2006, p.130). For example, if a child likes
ings can turn into irritability and anger, going to school, but does not manage to get
blaming others and being aggressive good grades and is constantly warned that
(blame externalization), so they again feel it needs to improve, it may blame and de-
like they have the situation under control velop an aversion toward the teacher. The
(Bilić, 2012). student then might develop negative emo-
It is well known that children learn tions, think that the teacher does not like
by imitating adults, as well as through them and start reacting aggressively. One
what they are surrounded with, their peers of the most famous theories of social learn-
and the world of different media that we ing is learning by observation by Albert
cannot leave out. There is no single defini- Bandura (1989, Essau, Conradt, 2006). It
tion of aggression, but many authors have argues that aggressive reactions can be
tried to explain it: “In general, behavior is learned from a model (a parent) and envi-
considered aggressive if it is carried out ronment (peers, media) by observing and
with intent to cause someone or something remembering those kinds of behavior and
some sort of damage.“ (Cole, Dodge, 1997; reactions in certain situations in order to
Keresteš, 2005, p.243). It is an uncompro- know how to use them when needed.
mising imposition of our own ideas and
attitudes as single and corrects (Essau,
Conradt, 2006). Theories mentioned in the How teachers perceive violence?
20th century describe aggression as a reac-
tion to a situation. F- A theory is based on
a statement that aggression always occurs Experiencing unpleasant situations in
as a response to a situation of frustration a work place cannot be productive, nor
that always leads to aggression (Milašin, supportive, especially if it includes vio-
Vranić, Buljubašić Kuzmanović, 2009). lence.
Skinner’s operant conditioning theory Teachers can affect students’ reac-
(1953, Essau, Conradt, 2006) argues that tions with their approach and way of work-
some forms of (aggressive) behavior are ing. Good preparation, interesting content
being rewarded. If a student performs ver- presentation and good communication with
bal aggression against a teacher, he turns students, with specifically given bounda-
out to be a “hotshot” in front of his class- ries of acceptable behavior, together with
mates, which guarantees him a high status the teacher being an example through cre-
in the group. Lorenz’s ethological theory ating a pleasant working atmosphere, will
(1966, Essau, Conradt, 2006) argues that help in the prevention of undesirable stu-
aggressiveness is innate. Certainly, there dent’s behavior.
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Teachers who are experiencing vio- Gódas et al., 2008) conducted in Spain
lence in school find it difficult to spread a proves that students’ jamming behavior,
positive and safe environment in their their indiscipline and lack of cooperation is
classrooms. It has a negative effect on their positively associated with exhaustion and
health. Studies on the effect of stress re- dissatisfaction. Kokkinos (2007) has also
garding teaching profession show that it confirmed in his research that students’
grows with increase in students’ indisci- indiscipline is a significant factor in creat-
pline in the classroom and can lead to a ing professional burnout.
burnout (McCormick, Barnett, 20011; However, research has shown that a
Kauppi, Pöröhölä, 2012). Professional level of burnout of teachers is low and very
burnout can be described as a set of nega- low (Koludrović, Jukić, Reić Ercegovac,
tive feelings that are a consequence of an 2009). A study (Dzuka, Dalbert, 2007)
individual’s unsuccessful struggle with shows that students’ violent behavior is
stress, with physical and emotional exhaus- often a reason for teachers’ stress.
tion, negative attitudes and very low Regardless of whether it is mild,
productivity (Houston, 2001; Grujić, moderate or severe, bullying is not normal.
2011). Stress is a main cause of profes- It is associative, and it should be ap-
sional burnout and it occurs when a teacher proached to as such. We have to find the
perceives his work environment and cer- cause of perpetrators’ violent behavior and
tain situation as threatening. Source of stop the chain of abuse. “What we need to
stress can vary by category, with stress find is a social solution to antisocial behav-
being a result of: environmental behavior ior.” (Coloroso, 2004).
of students and colleagues, physical and
technical conditions of work, occupational
roles, poor interpersonal relationships, and EMPIRICAL PART
atmosphere that students and colleagues
bring into school (McGrath, 1976; Friščić,

2006). As a result, teacher’s concentration
This study aims to raise awareness
and motivation decrease, which is very
that there is not only a problem of peer
important for high quality of work- teach-
violence in schools, but also a problem of
ing students. “In teachers who use strate-
violence against teachers in primary and
gies focused on emotions while dealing
secondary schools. It is very important to
with stress, a sense of insecurity, anxiety,
show the current situation in schools be-
depression, and a feeling that they are not
cause so far not many studies have been
able to accept the stress is going to be more
conducted regarding this issue.
powerful. In addition, they will often ex-
Besides determining the prevalence
press psychological symptoms such as
of violence against teachers, and by their
physical exhaustion, weakness, rapid fa-
students, the study implies the following
tigue, and trouble concentrating on work
hypotheses:
(Grgin et al., 1995; Brkić, Rijavec, 2011,
H1: Teachers in secondary schools
p.221).
are more often exposed to violent behavior
Teachers who use confrontation fo-
from their students than teachers in prima-
cused on emotions, deny facts and their
ry schools
consequences, refuse to accept the worst-
H2: Teachers are more often victims
the truth and act as if what happened is not
of violent behavior (posting inappropriate
important (Lazarus, Folkman, 2004; Brkić,
content online) by their students than their
Rijavec 2011). Sometimes a long-term
female colleagues are.
exposure to stress and job dissatisfaction
H3: There is a statistically significant
can result in leaving the teaching profes-
correlation between age (years of service
sion. A research (Otero Lopez, Santiago,
in school) and frequency of violence
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Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
The sample The obtained results show that 74.3%
of teachers had experienced violence dur-
The survey was conducted during ing the school year, while 25,6% of them
April 2013 in five primary and five sec- had not. Of those who had experienced
ondary schools in Zagreb (Republic of violence, 28.0% experienced it once in a
Croatia). They survey included 175 teach- year, 15.9% once a month, 21, 3% once a
ers, 88 of them from primary and 81 from week and 91.% each day. As in the previ-
secondary schools. In primary schools, 41 ously mentioned studies (Kauppi, Pöröhölä
teachers teach grades 1-4 and 47 teach 2012; Stefgen et al. 2007; Espelage, et al.,
grades 5-8. Average age of all the respond- 2013; Mehmet, O. S. 2012; SEED -
ents was 44,33 and its range was 20-65 Scottish Executive Education Department
years. 2004; Dzuka, Dalbert 2007; Pšunder
2000; Popadić and Plut 2006; Russo et al.,
INSTRUMENTS 2008; Evans Johnson 2008; Reddy 2012;
Milašin, Vranić, Buljubašić Kuzmanović

2009; Bilić, 2007), aimed at the incidence
For the purposes of this research, a
of violence against teachers, it is evident
questionnaire with 23 particles was made.
that schools from the sample, unfortunate-
The first part was referring to socio-
ly, do not fall behind in this negative trend.
demographic variables: gender, age, quali-
Violence against teachers, therefore, is a
fications, work experience, and workplace.
rule, regardless of the country, age, or gen-
Particles in the second part were referring
der of the teacher. There is no question
to frequency, type of violence, reasons,
whether the teachers will be exposed to it,
location, elicited reactions, subsequently
but what will be the frequency of its occur-
applied measures, their effectiveness, and
rence.
parents’ attitude towards teachers. Particles
A one - way analysis of variance
on prevalence of violence were measured
(ANOVA) was used to test the difference
on a five-degree scale of ordinal type, neg-
between the sub samples (teachers in
atively polarized with quantified character-
grades 1-4, teachers in grades 5-8, teachers
istics- 1: never, 2- seldom, 3- sometimes,
in secondary schools) with respect to the
4- often, 5- always.
frequency of violence experienced from

students. Although the result shows that

teachers in secondary schools are some-
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
what more exposed to violence from heir

students, the results of ANOVA imply that
Results on prevalence of violence
there is not statistically significant differ-
that teachers experienced from their stu-
ence (F=1,123,; df=2; p=0,327), thus re-
dents were analyzed. The asked question
jecting the H1 hypothesis. These results
was: “How often have experience violent
actually mean that students in elementary
behavior from your students?”, and the
and secondary schools act violently against
answers offered were: once a day, once a
their teachers equally. Regardless of the
week, once a month, once a year or never
age of students, comparing the behavior of
(Table 1).
students in higher grades of elementary

schools with high schools students, a lack
Table 1. Frequency of experienced viol-
of culture, disrespect of authority and vio-
ence
lation of good manners, as well as violent
behavior against teachers, is almost the
same. Reasons for such behavior, as al-

ready stated, have their roots in the family

where educational part is neglected or even
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(IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in science, engineering and education
Vol. 1, No.2, 2013.
completely omitted, the child does not childhood and adolescence (Bushman,
learn to listen or obey the rules so it oppos- Huesmann, 2001).
es every teacher’s attempt with the only With the H2 hypothesis, it has been
way it knows- aggression. Such behavior is assumed that male teachers are more often
emphasized with a strong negative influ- victims of violent behavior (posting inap-
ence of the media, watching inappropriate propriate content online) by their students
content on television, Internet, movies or than their female colleagues.
print, again due to a lack of parental care From the results of Mann-Whitey U
or authority, which leads to losing a sense test (Mann- Whitney U=1638, Z=-3,359,
of basic life values. p=0,001) it has been noted that teachers are
Olweus has proven in his study that more often victims of posting inappropriate
children in the age when they start school content about them online than their fe-
intensify reactive, verbal and indirect strat- male colleagues, which confirms the H2
egies of violence (1994, Stefanović, Stano- hypothesis (F- Mean rank= 79,10, M-Mean
jević, Vidanović, Anđelković, 2009), while rank=94,60). Possible reasons are that
they abandon primitive forms and develop teachers are stricters with students during
forms adjusted to the situation, reduce the class, maintain discipline and do not allow
frequency and increase the intensity of any comments so students went at them via
aggression (Loeber, Coie, Dodge, 1997; Internet where they comment on anything
Stefanović, Stanojević, Vidanović, they were not allowed to in the classroom.
Anđelković, 2009). Students avoid misconduct toward teachers
Given the prevalence of the experi- in the classroom probably because of fear
enced violent behavior from their students, of punishment. Not used to discipline and
most teachers have estimated that boys with a large amount of negative energy,
mostly use verbal forms of violence they deal with frustration on social net-
(84,8%); swearing, gossiping. Comparing works, blogs, taking revenge on the person
the results of a research conducted in Slo- they consider to be guilty in a way they
venia (Pšunder, 2000), we can see that ver- spread untruths about them. In doing so,
bal violence is predominant (31,3%). Phys- they feel protected, firstly because they are
ical violence (44,4%) is second when it far away from the teacher, there will be no
comes to boys, and when it comes to girls: immediate action no matter what they do,
emotional (44.8%). In Slovenia, 17,9% of they hope their identity will not get discov-
violence is related to a physical form. ered easily, and when and if it does get, it
Teachers consider that the main rea- will be enough time to avoid punishment
sons for students’ violent behavior are or it will at least be milder.
families influence and family conflict. With H3 hypothesis, it has been as-
“Theory of Social Learning explains ag- sumed that there is a statistically signifi-
gressiveness with social conditions. Ag- cant correlation between age (years of ser-
gressiveness is being taught by indirect vice in school) and frequency of violence.
(imitating an aggressive model) and direct The correlation matrix is shown in Table 2.
imitation (some forms of aggressive behav-
ior are being upgraded) reinforcement Table 2. Matrix correlation
(Bilić, 1999, p.70). Third reason that is
considered a cause or messages from so-
ciety. Children are often exposed to violent
content on television, act more aggressive,
as well as those who grew up watching
violence on television have tendencies of

more frequent violence behavior in later
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(IJCRSEE) International Journal of Cognitive Research in science, engineering and education
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Table 2 shows that there is a statisti- The hypothesis that there is a statisti-
cally significant negative correlation (low) cally significant correlation between age
between years of work and age and the (years of service in school) and the fre-
frequency of violent behavior experienced quency of violence from students has been
from students, which confirms the H3 hy- confirmed. The results have shown that
pothesis. Although the correlation is low, it with age (years of service), the frequency
indicates that with years (of service) the of experienced violent behavior decreases.
frequency of violence from students de- Perhaps it is because older teachers are
creases. The reason might be that older better in maintaining discipline, but it is
teachers are more experienced in maintain- also possible that it is because they are less
ing discipline and students respect them as sensitive to students’ provocations.
authority. On the other hand, these teachers This study is an attempt of drawing
because of many years of work, maybe less attention to a common problem in the edu-
sensitive to inappropriate behavior and do cation system, which should not be ne-
not mind it that much, which is why they glected because neglecting it encourages
have not mentioned it that much in our its escalation. Only some of the important
questionnaire. questions have been answered. Research
on this topic should be continued and ex-
CONCLUSION panded and the public should be informed
about this kind of violence happening not
only somewhere else, which we often hear
Violence against teachers is a big
about on television, but in each of our
problem in schools that is rarely talked
schools, in almost every class. Additional
about. We can learn about such situations
research should include the types and man-
from the media and only if there is a dras-
ifestations of violent behavior, which
tic example of abuse of teachers. In most
would offer interesting data about the gen-
cases, teachers are unprotected by the sys-
der of violent students. Teachers, as well as
tem and left on their own to handle these
parents, have a very important role in
very delicate situations.
forming new generations that our future is
The results of this study show that
depending on, which is why they deserve
74.3% of teachers have experienced vio-
that we work on drawing attention to this
lence from their students during the school
problem and help in alleviating it.
years, which determines violence against

teachers more as a rule than an exception.
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