TY - JOUR PY - 2017// TI - The ecology of teachers' experiences with violence and lack of administrative support JO - American journal of community psychology A1 - McMahon, Susan D. A1 - Reaves, Samantha A1 - McConnell, Elizabeth A. A1 - Peist, Eric A1 - Ruiz, Linda SP - 502 EP - 515 VL - 60 IS - 3-4 N2 - Teacher-directed violence is a common, yet understudied, phenomenon. Perpetrators of violence against teachers include not just students, but also administrators, parents, and colleagues. Administrators are key stakeholders when it comes to shaping school climate and safety that can reduce or increase the negative impact of violence against teachers. In this study, 237 teachers' qualitative responses from a larger sample of 2,431 anonymous, online survey responses were examined to better understand their experiences with incidents of violence and how administrators played a role in these experiences.

RESULTS reveal that lack of administrator support negatively impacts teachers at multiple levels, including teachers' feelings (individual); challenges associated with addressing issues related to students, parents, and other perpetrators (interpersonal); and school systems and policies (organizational). This study highlights the importance of administrative support and illustrates how administrators' actions and inactions can have ripple effects at each level of the school microcosm. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

© Society for Community Research and Action 2017.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0091-0562 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12202 ID - ref1 ER -