Dear Readers,
The events that have caused social trauma in our country in recent months have shown that the issue of violence in schools must be taken seriously. It is important that the issue is addressed on a scientific basis, that it is not used as a tool for politics and that the right solutions are produced.
As educational institutions, schools should be free from violence and all negativities, but violence and bullying are never absent in schools all over the world. Teachers who adhere to the traditional understanding use violence by considering all kinds of punishment, including beatings, as a means of education and serve to learn violence. In the family environment, fathers who adhere to the outdated discourse such as “he who does not beat his daughter beats his knee” continue to see violence against their children as a good thing.
It seems difficult to solve the problem of violence without destroying the classical understanding of education, reducing tensions in the country, and making love dominant throughout the country and in every field. First, those who govern the country should abandon the language of violence and hate, and then we need to modernize the educational understanding of teachers and parents.
As we encounter different forms of violence in all areas of life, in recent years we have also encountered it in educational institutions. The phenomenon of violence in schools is not unique to our country. In recent years, it is seen that the incidents of violence in schools have increased significantly in our country as in other countries. Considering the fact that violent incidents in our schools will negatively affect the mental health of individuals in a wide framework as well as educational activities, the importance of the issue becomes clear (Terzi, 2007).
The phenomenon of violence is generally defined as the use of physical force to hurt or harass, but it is also defined as “violent emotion or its expression, or intense belligerent, angry and often destructive behavior, or hurt through force, distortion, violation or disrespect of important issues" (Korkut, 2004).
The phenomenon of violence, which is inherent in human nature, has been a factor that has hindered the development of humanity throughout history. However, after modernization and globalization, humanity is now having a very difficult time in the face of this problem, which is increasingly out of control. Evaluating the problem on a global scale and taking serious measures in each country is considered necessary for the future of humanity.
The phenomenon of violence is defined as harsh treatment that involves pressure, threats and coercion on others in material and moral terms, and can lead to death. Although the definitions mostly focus on violence against human beings, the sense of violence that intensifies in individuals basically includes all harsh, rude and damaging behaviors exhibited towards all living and non-living beings (Mavili, 2020).
Although physical violence is the first thing that comes to mind when violence is mentioned, today economic, psychological, verbal and sexual violence has also become widespread in society. For this reason, violence is not only a violation of human rights but also a public health problem. Because it negatively affects all dimensions of human health by disrupting physical, mental and social health. On the other hand, the fact that violence is constantly encountered in areas such as family, school, media and workplace, it should now be handled within a multidimensional network of relationships (Mavili, 2020).
Violence, in its dictionary meaning, refers to all kinds of material and immaterial negativity directed against the physical and spiritual integrity of human beings. In the background of this negativity, the concepts of power and aggression draw our attention. Therefore, in order to understand the concept of violence, the concepts of power and aggression need to be clearly explained (Ayan, 2006).
The concept of power is defined in the TDK dictionary (2020) as “the ability to make an impact or resist an impact in terms of physics, thought and morality, effort and force”. Some researchers define power as the ability of an individual to influence another person or group of people (Copeland, 1994; Thibaut & Kelley, 1959). Therefore, the concept of power is a social and relational concept and one's power can only be understood in relation to another person or group (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959; Emerson, 1962)
Power is also used as a psychological state in the sense of perceiving one's capacity to influence others (Bugental et al., 1989; Galinsky et al., 2003). However, power is present in all kinds of human relationships. Power in relationships can also be defined as the ability to influence the behavior of others, to act in line with one's own desires, wishes and demands, and to cause changes in their behavior (Akgül & Uslu, 2020).
Even if it is accepted that almost everyone knows what aggression is, it is not clear which behaviors are accepted as aggression. According to Freedman et al. (1993), aggression is simply “any behavior that hurts or may hurt others“. However, when the intention of the individual who acts is taken into consideration, this concept can be defined as ”any behavior that aims to hurt others". Aggression is an impulse common to all living things (Öğülmüş, 1995).
Generally accepted values enable individuals to live together in society. These values have been formed under the influence of many political, economic and social events from the past to the present. Values such as love, respect, tolerance, helpfulness, loyalty and generosity are some of them. With the deterioration of these values for various reasons, social problems have started to increase rapidly. At this point, violence, like other social problems, emerges as a social problem that requires the struggle of the society as a whole. Regrettably, in our country, violence and its types such as bullying at school, violence in sports, domestic violence, violence against health workers, violence against women, children and animals have become ubiquitous and frequently talked about (Saz, 2013).
Violence is one of the most uncontrolled social phenomena in our age, existing in the lives of all societies, affecting all social professions, ages and ethnic groups (Dahlberg & Krug, 2002). According to Ayan (2006), violence is seen as a universal phenomenon that exists in all areas and periods of human life. Its damaging nature towards the individual and society stems from its universality (cited in Çifçi, 2010).
Öğülmüş (2007) defines violence as “physical force used to injure someone or damage something” or “unjust and unlawful use of power”. According to Köknel (2000), violence refers to ”the intensity, harshness, extreme emotional state, rude and harsh behavior of a phenomenon”. Haskan (2009) also defines violence as “behaviors that involve the intentional intention of an individual to cause physical or psychological harm to another individual”.
Olweus (1999) defines violence as “when one person physically or with the use of an object injures or harms another person in a relatively serious way”. As can be seen, violence is a form of aggression. Aggression is an umbrella concept that encompasses violence and bullying actions together (cited in Pişkin, 2002).
According to the general opinion, the way to raise happy and productive individuals who are in harmony with society is through educational institutions called family and school. Violence in the family environment not only causes the individual to learn violence, but also causes the traumatic effects of violence to force the individual to struggle and fail for a lifetime. It is necessary to be aware and pay attention to the fact that violence in schools negatively affects the quality of life, success level and future outlook of the individual, and that the school is the last opportunity to change or minimize the tendency and behaviors of the individual towards violence. Therefore, it is of great importance to prevent students' encounters with violence and their tendencies towards violence in the educational process (Özgür et al., 2011).
Violence Tendency
Violence tendency refers to an individual's tendency that consists of feelings, thoughts, attitudes and behaviors related to violence. This concept is not limited to the violent behaviors of the individual; it can be in the form of an internal tendency towards violence in any situation, as well as the belief that it is right to resort to violence (Haskan, 2009).
Violent tendency can be defined as cognitive readiness for violence and the set of positive thoughts that a person attributes to violence. Violence emerges as a result of the interaction of many factors. In other words, when we look at the triggers of violence, it is seen that the problem is not one-dimensional and that different triggers also activate this problem. Therefore, in order to prevent violence, a serious struggle should be carried out together with schools, families, society, all kinds of media and social organizations, which are handled at the state level (Konter, 2004).
Researches summarize the main factors that feed violence in three main points: family and environment, education level and media (Ayan, 2006). As in many other areas, the institution of family comes to the fore in the issue of violence. It is important to organize the social and physical environment well. Raising the general education level of the society, preventing the destruction of the family institution, spreading love among people and making serious efforts to control the media are among the priority measures to be taken.
Types of Violence
Many different studies have been conducted on the classification of the phenomenon of violence. Some of these studies are discussed below.
WHO's Classification of Violence
The WHO classification divides the types of violence reflected in all areas of our lives into three general categories according to the general characteristics of violent behavior: a) self-directed, b) interpersonal and c) collective violence.
a) Self-directed Violence
This type of violence is divided into suicidal behavior and self-abuse or self-harm. It includes behaviors such as suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and suicides, self-mutilation, injury and neglect.
According to TÜİK (2014), 7.5 per 100,000 young men in Turkey die due to suicide. Of these young men, 35.1 percent commit suicide with a firearm. The rate of self-harm is higher among young boys than girls.
b) Interpersonal Violence
This type of violence can be physical, sexual and psychological and can be categorized into two different types. The first is violence that occurs at home, such as child and elder abuse, spousal violence, etc., between family and close family members. The second is violence perpetrated by familiar or unfamiliar individuals in society.
According to TÜİK (2015), 9.7 percent of married women are subjected to sexual violence and 17.3 percent to physical violence.
c) Collective Violence
Collective violence is divided into three categories: social, political and economic. Collective violence includes hate crimes committed by organized groups, terrorist attacks and violence by criminal organizations. Political violence includes war and related violent conflicts and state violence. Economic violence includes attacks such as disrupting economic activity, preventing the purchase of essential services, creating economic division and discrimination, etc. (TGNA 2007).
Mavili's Classification of Violence
Mavili categorized the types of violence as psychological, sexual, economic, verbal and physical violence (Mavili, 2020).
a) Psychological Violence
Behaviors such as insulting, swearing and threatening, shouting, humiliating, making degrading remarks, social isolation, interfering with clothing on the pretext of jealousy, forcing the other party to comply with their own decisions, deciding where and how to go and forcing the individual to make these decisions, depriving the individual of development opportunities are examples of psychological violence. In addition, the type of psychological violence in the form of swearing and humiliation is verbal violence.
b) Sexual Violence
Forcing each other to have sexual intercourse in a way, place and time that they do not want, to give or not to give birth to children and to engage in prostitution, damaging the genitals, showing unwanted attitudes towards sexuality through verbal or non-verbal behaviors are all reflections of sexual violence.
c) Economic Violence
Examples of economic violence include not giving money to the spouse or giving limited money, not sharing information about the family budget, spending the joint family income without the spouse's approval, making decisions on family matters alone and forced labor.
d) Verbal Violence
Reflections of psychological violence such as humiliation, swearing, mocking the individual's body and insults are also examples of verbal violence. The most severe form of psychological and verbal violence is the weakening of the other party's self-confidence through intimidation and threats.
e) Physical Violence
Behaviors that may harm the individual's body such as slapping, pushing, kicking, hitting with a fist or an object, throwing something, harming or threatening the individual with a weapon or a similar object, preventing the individual from benefiting from health services.
Classification of Violence according to the way it is perpetrated
According to Koç (2006), defining the phenomenon of violence only as physical harm, as it is perceived by the society in general, is quite limited in expressing it. According to the way it is practiced, violence can be classified under four headings: physical, emotional, economic violence, neglect and abuse (Koç, 2006).
a) Physical Violence
It is the use of violence to harm a child in order to ensure obedience and discipline, to punish or to vent anger. This harm may include beating, burning, biting and imprisonment. Not only beatings, but also any action that injures the child, leaves marks on the child's body, except accidents, is considered as violence with physical content.
b) Emotional Violence
It is any action or inaction that harms the child emotionally and disrupts his/her psychology. Behaviors such as rejection, isolation, excessive tolerance, excessive protection, pressure, deprivation of love and stimuli, constant criticism, humiliation, threats, intimidation, intimidation, directing to crime, unjust accusation, ignoring, entering into expectations that are not appropriate for the child's age and qualifications, witnessing domestic violence, forcing the child to take sides in domestic disputes are emotional violence.
c) Economic Violence
Economic violence is when a person is employed as a low-paid labor force in jobs that violate their rights and hinder their development. In addition, taking away one's earnings and sources of income is also seen as economic violence.
d) Child neglect and abuse
Child neglect is the denial or failure to fulfill the child's duties of nutrition, shelter, protection, clothing, cleaning, play, education, trust, safety, security, being loved and health care (Alkan, 2007).
Meyer & Farrell's Classification of Violence
In a study, Meyer & Farrell (1998) defined four types of violence: situational, relational, psychopathological and predatory violence. These forms of violence differ from each other in terms of the factors that contribute to the occurrence of violence, the population at risk and the types of interventions known to be most effective.
a) Situational Violence
Alcohol and drug abuse develops as a result of specific situational factors such as poverty, peer pressure or easy access to weapons.
b) Relational Violence
Violence arising from interpersonal conflicts between people in a relationship, which affects a significant proportion of the adolescent population.
c) Psychopathological Violence
It is violence that tends to be more extreme and repetitive than other forms of violence and is the result of severe psychological trauma and nervous system disorders.
d) Predatory Violence
It is violence that takes place as a part of anti-social behavior or in the form of committing crimes for gain (cited in Uysal, 2003).
Classification of Violence by Place of Perpetration
a) Domestic Violence
All forms of aggression by the stronger against the weaker among family members are considered as domestic violence. Women are often subjected to abuse and violence by those closest to them, such as fathers, husbands and brothers. The tense and conflictual atmosphere in the home environment has very negative effects on children. In fact, the family derives its indispensable power and value in children's lives from the fact that it provides the child with acceptance in society, gives him/her confidence, models and supports him/her in learning appropriate behavior patterns, and guides and guides him/her in solving his/her problems. For this reason, it is necessary to combat domestic violence and abuse in all its dimensions (Mavili, 2020).
It is seen that most of the studies on the subject in the literature are limited to the situational aspect of the problem. For this reason, violence against women as a broad social problem should be addressed in the context of different theories and sociological approaches and individual and social factors affecting the emergence of violence should be included.
b) Workplace Violence
A common type of violence in the workplace is mobbing (intimidation). As it is commonly used in society, mobbing is a systematic psycho-social attack on an employee at work. While mobbing in the workplace is a behavior of distancing and intimidation, sexual harassment is a behavior of intimacy. Worldwide, sexual harassment at the workplace includes behaviors based on sexuality or behaviors that are not accepted or reciprocated by the addressee. This issue has been included in many international conventions. In our country, it is generally accepted that psychological and sexual violence constitutes a violation of the principle of equal treatment and supervision of the employer or supervisor, and many legal regulations have been made in this regard within the scope of the Turkish Penal Code.
c) Violence in the Media
As it is known, the visual communication systems of the last two centuries have weakened the influence of the family in socialization with their qualities that manage and direct, or at least influence, all the quantitative and qualitative elements of social life, and have gained a quality that directs this process with its power. Children's programs, education, entertainment, school and language programs, and documentaries are the positive aspects of the media, both in terms of diversity and the quality that meets all kinds of needs. On the other hand, it is no longer possible to ignore its links with the violence that has become widespread today with its conflicting content and fiction, such as TV series, marriage programs and violent films.
e)Violence in Sports
Violence in sports emerges in the reflection of the most advanced version of aggression in the external world. This behavior manifests itself especially in sports that require individual struggle, such as deliberately kicking, punching, swearing, throwing sports equipment and fighting, as well as against the opposing player, referee, federation, spectators, coach, own teammate and team managers (Saz, 2013).
f) Street and School Violence
Violence in the street and school environment is one of the conflicts in the social sphere. In reality, children living in cities today have very little space for life and play on the streets. The dimension of conflicts on the street and at school that turn into violence can be categorized under two main headings:
- Bullying and violence among peers
- Adult violence and abuse
In reality, violence can occur when conflicts between individuals or between children cannot be balanced or transformed. However, in social facilities and life centers of municipalities, youth and social service centers, libraries, non-governmental organizations, by giving importance to awareness training for young people, conflicts can be prevented from producing aggression and violence (Mavili, 2020).
Violence at School
The concept of violence in schools refers to acts of aggression and crime, the characteristics of which hinder students' development and learning and damage the school climate (Furlong & Morrison, 2000). Due to the increasing incidents of violence in schools, schools today cannot be said to be environments where children can develop educationally and socially in complete safety. Most students today are concerned about their physical safety while traveling to and while at school (Walker & Walker, 2000).
The multidimensional nature of violent incidents in schools is reason enough for the incident not to be confined to the school walls. The school has many dynamics within itself and there are many complex and deeper reasons for acts of violence (Kızıler, 2006).
Many factors such as the families, ages, genders, socio-economic and cultural capital, type and intensity of the violence, as well as the age, gender, socio-economic and cultural capital of the people involved in violent incidents in the school environment determine the grounds and course of the incident. In addition, while trying to find the causes of violence in schools, it is necessary to consider the physical structures of school buildings, the abundance of concrete-covered areas, and the insufficiency of areas where students can consume their energy, play games with their friends and socialize by having a good time among the causes of violence (Kızıler, 2006).
Benbenishty & Astor (2005) define school violence as “any behavior that is intended to physically or emotionally harm people at school, their belongings and school property”. Verlinden et al. (2000) categorized school violence under five main headings in their study. These are personal factors, family factors, school factors, prejudices and social and environmental factors.
The teacher's belief that beating is an effective disciplinary method causes the child to face physical abuse at school as well as at home. The traditional understanding that beating is useful in the education of children is accepted (Beyazova & Şahin, 2001).
Physical violence is a form of harsh and painful action directed externally against the physical integrity of individuals, which causes trauma. Undoubtedly, it can also have emotional, sexual and cultural effects. “Beatings”, which can result in injury or even death, constitute the most common and mentioned form of violence in our schools (Tural, 2006).
It is known that physical abuse continues to be frequently used as a method of punishment in schools. In addition to beatings, the definition of physical abuse includes behaviors such as shaking, pinching, pulling ears, hitting fingernails, pinching, forcing children to stand in an uncomfortable position for a long time, and excessive exercise unnecessarily and as punishment. Boys are more likely to be subjected to physical abuse. It is also observed that male teachers resort to corporal punishment more frequently. This situation can be interpreted as the authoritarian attitude of the father at home in traditional culture being transferred to the school (Beyazova & Şahin, 2001).
Scientific studies show that, contrary to popular belief, corporal punishment is not effective in education and that positive motivation such as rewards and praise are more effective. Corporal punishment causes students to fear school, lose self-confidence, worsen their behavior, increase destructive and aggressive attitudes, and increase negative behaviors such as disrupting classroom order, talking back to teachers, lying, and damaging property. The effect of corporal punishment in reducing or changing unwanted behavior is limited and temporary. In order to eliminate unwanted behavior that recurs after a while, the severity of the punishment should be gradually increased (Beyazova & Şahin, 2001).
All actions that cause physical or psychological harm in schools can be defined as acts of violence.
Violence in schools can be categorized as follows:
a) Violence among Education Personnel
Violence in schools is violence from administrators against administrators, from administrators against teachers, from teachers against administrators and from teachers against teachers. Although not common, it is important to create a school climate where such incidents cannot occur.
b) Violence among School Members
It is a form of violence directed by administrators and teachers against students, administrative staff against students and students against students. This type of violence can be prevented by creating a positive school climate.
c) Violence perpetrated by non-school staff
Violence by non-school staff against school staff also needs to be taken into account. The entrance and exit doors of the school should be well supervised.
Today, the changing definition and direction of violence over time means that the form of violence in our schools is no longer only directed from teachers to students, but also from students and other subjects to teachers (Debarbieux, 2003).
In recent years, it is estimated that there has been an increase in the number of people who feel that they have not received the service they deserve from state institutions and who resort to violence to compensate for this injustice (Debarbieux, 2003). In our schools, this situation is mostly seen in the form of violence against teachers. Despite this increase in the number of different acts of violence against teachers, including those resulting in serious injury and killing, it has always been too late to take serious steps towards a solution.
Despite the increase in the frequency of violence against teachers in schools, it is seen that the intensity rates of violence are not subject to scientific studies. There may be many different reasons for this attitude such as protecting the name of the school, wanting to prevent the escape of students and quality teachers who are customers, the relativity of the act defined as violence, and the silence of the victims of violence due to fear (Debarbieux, 2003).
The most important aspect of violence in schools that concerns us is the violence perpetrated by children against other children. The concept of “school bullying”, defined by Pişkin (2002) as “some students who are slightly older or physically stronger bullying, tormenting and harassing children who are weaker than them”, defines violence against each other in the school environment. This concept includes acts such as hitting, slapping, intimidating, pushing, pulling, teasing, teasing, teasing, poking, calling bad names, humiliating and insulting.
Predisposing factors for violence among children include previous experiences of violence, disappointments, feelings of revenge, unshared anger, unrealized hopes, antisocial personality and substance abuse. This type of violence may be the personal violence of a single student, or it may occur when several students with similar personality traits come together to form a gang. In this way, such children may feel stronger, enjoy what they do and think that others deserve it (Tural, 2006).
Research also shows that children face many forms of physical, verbal, emotional and sexual violence in schools. It is always possible for a student to be stopped in the corridor, in the garden or on the road and subjected to bullying behavior. School administrations need to take preventive measures in this regard.