NCJ Number
214364
Date Published
2006
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This study examined teacher perceptions of prevalence, predictors, and consequences of parental aggression in schools.
Abstract
Overall, results indicated that parental aggression experienced by Kentucky teachers was more likely to be verbal rather than physical. Specific findings revealed that a large minority of the Kentucky teachers surveyed had experienced verbal abuse and threats from parents while in school. The authors recommend that teachers receive training on how to avoid, prevent, and resolve verbal confrontations with parents. Recommendations are also presented regarding how schools might reduce parental aggression against teachers. These include the advice to create clear rules regarding student attendance and discipline and to enforce rules consistently and uniformly. A small minority of teachers experienced actual physical aggression that ranged from pushing (3.7 percent) and hitting (1.1 percent) to property damage at home (2.4 percent) or at the school (3.3 percent). The majority of teachers (80 percent) reported that discipline issues were involved in their conflicts with parents while over half of teachers (69 percent) reported that grades were the issue responsible for parent-teacher conflicts. Research methodology involved the use of focus groups to gain information about parental aggression in schools, which was then used to develop a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was then distributed via e-mail to a randomly generated, systematic sample of 5,000 public school teachers in Kentucky. The analysis was based on 544 completed teacher surveys. Descriptive statistics were generated. Future research should use personal interviews with teachers to gain more indepth knowledge of their perceptions and experiences of parental aggression. Tables, footnotes, references