Operational Assessment Areas of Verbal, Physical and Relational Peer Victimisation in Relation to the Prevention of School Violence in Public Schools in Tshwane South

• NCJ Number: 221559
• Journal: Acta Criminologica Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: 2007 Pages: 46-60
• Author(s): J. Prinsloo; J. Neser
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: To access the full text PDF: 1) select the provided link; 2) from the Acta Criminologica Web site, select "Table of Contents"; 3) select the corresponding Volume and Issue (see the NCJRS abstract record for the exact Volume and Issue); 4) scroll the Table of Contents to the exact article; and 5) click on the "full text" icon Downloaded on February 13, 2008.

Annotation

Following a literature review identifying the operational assessment areas in relation to verbal, physical, and relational peer victimization, this study sought to acquire knowledge and insight and to arrive at general conclusions pertaining to the orientation and actions of learners in relation to the phenomenon of school violence within certain primary and secondary public schools in Tshwane South.

Abstract

Findings are presented in the areas of prevalence of school violence and impact on victimized learners, reasons advanced for the perpetration of school violence by fellow learners, perceptions regarding school safety, consequences of victimization, comparison of victims and non-victims, and school connectedness and peer victimization. Highlights of the findings include: (1) regarding the incidence and nature of the observed violence, it is clear that it is not an isolated phenomenon; (2) the majority of the victims were subjected to verbal aggression, such as cruel teasing, bad name calling, and threats of harm; (3) reasons given for the perpetration of school violence by fellow learners were aggressors’ desire to show their dominance (63 percent), for the fun of it (55 percent), and as retaliatory behavior (52 percent); (4) especially male participants, learners in the older age group, senior grades, felt more unsafe in the school situation; (5) general feelings experienced by victims were rage (51 percent), as well as distress and sadness (48 percent); (6) lack of sufficient self-esteem, proneness to depression, feelings of anxiety and low levels of self-restraint were associated with peer victimization; and (7) more than half the participants had been subjected to peer victimization at school. School violence and peer group victimization by fellow pupils in public schools are part of a universal problem. There has been a significant increase in offenses, such as assaults and sexual violence in South African schools from 2001 to 2004. A comprehensive literature study was conducted to identify the operational assessment areas in relation to verbal, physical, and relational peer victimization, followed by a survey to collect and analyze information from a sample of 1,873 learners in grades 6 to 11 in the Tshwane South district of South Africa. Table, bibliography