NCJ Number
191554
Journal
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: 1999 Pages: 279-300
Date Published
1999
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article explores characteristics of school violence in France and the methods by which school counselors address the problem.
Abstract
The practice of counseling receives little institutional support in France. Counseling takes place only for students in junior high school or high school. Two important characteristics of French attitudes toward school violence are that experts in psychology have little interest in problems of school violence and that adults, rather than students, are regarded as the main victims. Thus, counselors try to reduce school violence mainly through training and discussions with school staff. The analysis suggests that the adults’ perceptions of the students is a determining factor in the social regulation of school violence, which consists mostly of incivilities that certain teachers regard as unbearable. School staff either try to control the incivilities through education or they lose confidence in their professional mission, depending on whether the staff try to understand the incivilities or can only regard them as pure savagery. In efforts to address school violence, French counselors are used most often to train staff and help them to reflect on their experiences to help staff work better as a team, interpret violent behavior more accurately, and adjust their own behavior to respond more appropriately to the students. The analysis concludes that this approach can be useful in other cultures, including those in which the violence problem is addressed directly with the students, and that all schools should address students’ social skills and social development before problems with violence arise. 53 references (Author abstract modified)