School violence: An analysis from different interaction contexts

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to analyze the differences between adolescents scoring high and low on school violence in the following areas: individual (self-esteem, loneliness, satisfaction with life, and empathy); family (family climate, communication with father and mother); academic (classroom climate, attitudes toward authority, and sociometric status); and community (community involvement, community participation, social support from formal systems, and social support from informal systems). Differences in these relationships between boys and girls scoring high on school violence were also examined. Participants in the study were 1723 adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years old, in four secondary schools. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance were performed. Results showed that adolescents with high levels of school violence scored higher on loneliness, depressive symptomatology, offensive and avoidance communication with father and mother, family conflict, and attitude towards transgression, as compared to adolescents with low levels of school violence. Furthermore, girls scoring high on school violence reported higher scores on academic self-esteem, empathy, and sociometric status, and lower scores on open communication with father and community participation, as compared to boys scoring high in school violence. Finally, these results and their practical implications are discussed.