Violence and Peace at school
Letter n°32, May 2006

In the United States, the number of acts of violence has remained stable during 2002 and 2003, although that number is significantly lower than was recorded at the beginning of the 1990’s.  According to the Washington Post, some experts attribute this current low rate of criminality to three factors:  the installation of metal detectors and surveillance cameras in buildings, the increased presence of security personnel and the implementation of anti-bullying programmes in schools. 

 

In developed countries, the idea that violence is a real threat in schools is securely fixed in people’s minds, as is shown in a number of “victimization” studies.  This observation is not duplicated in Southern countries; contrary to the received wisdom that violence is a “normal” phenomenon in poor countries.  A recent study carried out by E. Debarbieux has recently demonstrated the opposite.  The perception of violence amongst pupils in the South is markedly lower than amongst their peers in the North, at least in Brazil, Burkina Faso and Djibouti.  In these countries, the schools with the best academic results are those where some calm reigns, where corporal punishment is not applied and where there is a strong sense belonging to a community. 

 

The panoply of methods used in schools in the North to combat violence do not, in and of themselves, assure the development of an atmosphere of peace within institutions.  Surveillance and repression have their limits and also foster resentment, which is not a positive attitude amongst students.  Wouldn’t it be in order to try to promote further the crucial social bonds that must exist in schools just as in the neighborhoods around them? 

 

References :

 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). “Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005”

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006001

 

The Washington Post. “1 in 20 Students a Crime Victim” 21 November 2005.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/20/AR2005112001053.html

 

Debarbieux, Éric. (2006). « La violence à l’école : quelques orientations pur un débat scientifique mondial ». International Journal on Violence and Schools, N° 1, May, 18-28.

 

What are victimization studies? More than a study of “delinquency”, which measures the performance and actions of institutions, the approach of victimization studies permits transgressions and infractions to be understood from the perspective of the victim, who is seen as privileged source of information, instead of focusing on research on the perpetrators of the violence.  These studies illustrate the gap between institutional knowledge of the phenomenon and the reality of the actual aggression.  This methodology is becoming much more common in Europe and the world, employing researchers in large studies, and forming significant databases that will and do allow, in some places, to better measure the significance and evolution of the phenomenon.” See: « Des statistiques officielles aux enquêtes de victimation », by Eric Debarbieux http://www.obsviolence.com/french/recherches/index.html (French only)