Effects of Teacher Avoidance of School Policies on Student Victimization

The present study examines relations between school policy, teacher responses to violence and students' victimization outcomes as reported by teachers in a nationally representative sample of schools in Israel. Data were analysed using Structural Equations Modeling for the full sample of teachers, as well as group comparisons by school level, gender and ethnic groups. Across all models, violence prevention as a school priority was significantly related to less staff/ teacher avoidance of dealing with violence. In turn, teacher avoidance of student violence related strongly to elevated rates of reported student victimization. The findings indicate that School Violence Prevention (as a policy on its own), does not necessarily translate to less student victimization. It is through the indirect impact on staff/teacher response that student victimization was less likely. This study highlights the importance of school policy in its relation to teachers' actions and student behaviour.

Putting context into a cultural perspective: examining Arab and Jewish adolescents' judgments and reasoning about spousal retribution

In this study, we examined what contextual factors influence adolescents' judgments and reasoning about spousal retribution. Adolescents were drawn from Central and Northern Israel and consisted of 2,324 Arab and Jewish students (Grades 7-11). The study was set up in a 2 (Arab/Jewish respondent) × 2 (spousal retribution scenarios) factorial design. Our findings suggest that societal and cultural norms may be more powerful contextual variables than group stereotypes in influencing Arab and Jewish adolescents' evaluations of spousal retribution. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

When is peer rejection justifiable?: Children's understanding across two cultures

This study investigated how Korean (N = 397) and U.S. (N = 333) children and adolescents (10 and 13 years of age) evaluated personality (aggression, shyness) and group (gender, nationality) characteristics as a basis for peer rejection in three contexts (friendship rejection, group exclusion, victimization). Overall, peer rejection based on group membership was viewed as more unfair than peer rejection based on personality traits. Children viewed friendship rejection as more legitimate than group exclusion or victimization and used more personal choice reasoning for friendship rejection than for rejection in any other context. Although there were a few cultural differences, overall, the findings provided support for the cultural generalizability of social reasoning about peer rejection.

The Perpetration of School Violence in Taiwan

Using a nationally representative sample in Taiwan, this study aims to describe the prevalence of perpetration of school violence in Taiwan. The study explores how gender, age and school type relate to students’ perpetration of violence in an Asian culture context. The sample included 14,022 students from elementary to high schools in grades 4 to 12. Students were given an anonymous questionnaire to report their violent behaviour in schools. The findings presented in this study provide insight on why perpetrators commit violent acts against their peers. Findings suggest the prevalence of perpetration may vary from setting to setting but the influences of age, gender and school type on violence tend to be similar in Taiwan to what theories expect based on studies done in Western cultures. A majority of perpetrators reported engaging in violence stemming from rough and tumble play or from situations where they were initially having fun. Findings suggest that promoting the quality of peer interactions could be a major violence prevention strategy.