THE PREVENTION OF MANIFESTATIONS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE IN THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
LA PREVENCIÓN DE LAS MANIFESTACIONES DE VIOLENCIA ESCOLAR EN LAS INSTITUCIONES EDUCATIVAS
Daymara B. Cedeño-Pupo1
E-mail: daymaracp@nauta.cu
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9330-3294
Aliuska Laguarda-Marrero2
E-mail: aliuska.laguarda@nauta.cu
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6687-3152
Maikel López-Aballe3
E-mail: mlopezaballe@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2110-7010
Yennis Cruz-Velez4
E-mail: yenniscruz91z@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6592-4894
1 Escuela Primaria “Omar Sánchez”. Holguín. Cuba.
2 Escuela Primaria “Manuel Fajardo Rivero”. Holguín. Cuba.
3 Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Holguín. Cuba.
4 Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico “Lucía Íniguez”. Holguín. Cuba.
ABSTRACT
The prevention of child violence from educational institutions constitutes a challenge for teachers and family members due to the impact it has on the psychological well-being and personality development of children, adolescents and young people. The research presented is the result of a master's thesis led by the University of Holguín and with the participation of the educational institutions of the Holguin territory of the primary educational level, the object of study was the prevention of school violence. It takes place in the period between December 2022 and March 2023. The logic of the research starts from the consultation of the specialized bibliography to argue the role of educational institutions in the prevention of child violence, based on the integration of actions that involve teachers and family members. Thus, the use of the case study as a starting point for preventive work is significant. The theoretical foundations, the case study and the intervention that result from the research constitute a valuable reference for the work carried out by educational institutions to prevent child violence.
Keywords:
School violence, prevention, preventive work, educational institutions.
RESUMEN
La prevención de la violencia infantil desde las instituciones educativas, constituye un reto para docentes y familiares por el impacto que tiene en el bienestar psicológico y el desarrollo de la personalidad de niños, adolescentes y jóvenes. La investigación presentada es el resultado de una tesis de maestría liderada por la Universidad de Holguín y con la participación de las instituciones educativas del territorio holguinero del nivel educativo primaria, el objeto de estudio fue la prevención de la violencia escolar. La misma se concreta en el período comprendido entre diciembre 2022 y marzo de 2023. La lógica de la investigación parte de la consulta a la bibliografía especializada para argumentar el papel de las instituciones educativas en la prevención de la violencia infantil, a partir de la integración de acciones que involucran a docentes y familiares. De este modo resulta significativo el empleo del estudio de caso como punto de partida para el trabajo preventivo. Los fundamentos teóricos que resultan de la investigación, el estudio de caso y la propuesta de intervención constituyen un valioso referente para el trabajo que se realiza desde las instituciones educativas para prevenir la violencia infantil.
Palabras clave:
Violencia escolar, prevención, trabajo preventivo, instituciones educativas.
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the role of educational institutions in the transmission of knowledge and the development of skills for the performance of schoolchildren in their future life is recognized. The school has a huge responsibility in the formation of habits and values for social life. Sometimes this effort is difficult, because not all schoolchildren respond in the same way to the system of educational influences, because sometimes they assume inappropriate behaviors and respond violently to their peers and teachers. Studies carried out on this subject recognize that the manifestations of school violence are varied and depend on individual and social factors and sometimes they lead to stress and depression of the victim (Agüero-Nate et al., 2021).
Individual factors are associated with the structure and typology of personality; social factors are linked to family influence, social relationships, as well as the incidence of agencies and socializing agents. The truth is that school violence is a concern for many countries on the European continent, such as Spain, France, and the United Kingdom; where there is a large occurrence of violent acts and has high rates of incidence in schools.
This situation is not exclusive to Europe but extends to Latin America, which determines that there is an increase in concern and analysis from the academic field to find solutions that manage to reduce the manifestations of violence in childhood, due to the repercussions that has on the child's subsequent development. The investigative work of teachers and researchers is supported by some international organizations such as: the World Health Organization (2020) that seeks to reduce or eliminate violence in any of its manifestations, but the potential of prevention has not yet been sufficiently exploited to achieve better results in this direction.
In Cuba there are numerous studies that dealing with the theme of violence from an edge of prevention. All of these direct attention, preferably, to prevention in subjects with different characteristics and contexts. However, according to the criteria of Rodríguez (2017), the need for preventive action to reduce the factors that influence mental health is seen in educational institutions, as well as to obtain effective results in the treatment of violent behavior. It is then necessary to deepen into the theory, taking into consideration that since ancient times this phenomenon was appreciated in social relations.
The theoretical systematization related to violence allows us to know its origins and its different manifestations in educational settings, as well as the fact that it can be the cause of desertion. These criteria must be considered in order to later project actions that favor prevention, based on the adequate integration between the family and the teachers. In this way, this research intends to argue from a historical perspective the occurrence of school violence in Cuban educational institutions.
The aforementioned differs from the results of various investigations, which find as the main causes of school dropout, those that have to do with the economy, with the family and, thirdly, those related to school performance (Méndez-Garrido & Monescillo-Palomo, 2003; Lozano-Blasco & Cortés-Pascual, 2020; Torres-Zapata et al., 2023). However, violence is a new topic that must be prioritized from the academic field.
METHODOLOGY
The research is the result of a master's thesis led by the University of Holguín, with the participation of the educational institutions of the Holguin territory of the primary educational level, whose object of study was the prevention of school violence. It takes place in the period between December 2022 and March 2023, the same part of the diagnosis made to some institutions of the primary educational level, which were randomly selected, the results obtained in the diagnosis determined the need for a theoretical systematization of studies related to violence.
During the investigative process, theoretical methods such as analysis-synthesis, abstraction-deduction, and transition from the abstract to the concrete and historical-logical were applied, which allowed establishing the background of the investigation and summarizing the essential theoretical foundations for its achievement. The documentary review made it possible to recognize the significance and relvance of the topic at a national and international level, to establish the conceptual references to identify the definitions of school violence and its main manifestations, as well as the particularities of prevention to achieve relaxation and psychological well-being in educational level schoolchildren.
The results of the diagnosis corroborated the existence of manifestations of school violence. It concludes with the determination of insufficiencies in the knowledge of teachers to identify and prevent the manifestations of violence in educational institutions. From the factual point of view, the diagnosis made allows us to know that sometimes the potential of prevention is not used to avoid the manifestations of school violence; these elements allow us to identify the prevalence of school violence and the existence of insufficient actions of educational orientation for their prevention.
DEVELPOMENT
The theoretical systematization carried out allows us to know that since ancient times the first philosophers became aware of the effect of violence on people's relationships and on the behavior of their own students. In the case of Socrates, he considered that violence is not part of the individual, but rather is an expression of their social relationships. In the criteria of this philosopher, an attempt to explain the origins of violence can be seen, focusing on the weight of interactions between men in the social context.
In some philosophical studies violence is often associated with evil, in Platonic philosophy; evil is understood as a condition of possibility of the human being. In this case, the name of evil focuses on what is harmful to people and in this case violence is reflected. In some texts, Aristotle conceives violence as an impediment or obstacle that prevents reaching a goal or natural end; in the Aristotelian vision the long-term effects of violence are reflected.
According to the criteria of Lazos (2016), Kant's philosophy contributes decisively to what could be called the distortion of violence. This philosopher conceived that to ignore this phenomenon was to assume it as something normal. Naturalizing violence leads to allowing it, which brings disastrous consequences for people and the things they do from everyday life, from creating, taking into account the different scenarios or relationship spaces.
However, Capriani (2012) believes that for Saint Augustine what was violent was the renunciation of what was strictly political; it was the unilateral affirmation of individual freedom and the denial of that freedom. With this way of understanding violence, Saint Augustine directly transmits a message of commitment from the historical-social moment of the time; it is a call to reflection on this phenomenon that exacerbates problems, whether social, economic or financial, in the society of the time, in human relationships, which logically should favor solutions, not hinder them.
In the words of this philosopher enunciated before, a subliminal message is appreciated that reflects the importance and the necessity of the prevention of violence in political and social scenarios. He rightly emphasizes individual freedom, because it is understood that one is only free as long as some do not impose themselves by the power of a personal or selfish benefit, one is free when in relationships one knows how to dialogue, reaches necessary agreements and all in function of achieving the common good.
Violence is studied not only from philosophy but also from other sciences, mainly sociology, psychology, pedagogy and politics. From psychology it is understood that the environment where an individual develops will not determine who he will be, but it will influence the course of his life by being consistent with the postulates of Cedeño (2020) on the role of higher psychological functions, as man is an active participant in the process of creating his environment, and not determined by it.
The Cultural Historical Approach assumes man as a social and cultural being, from this same perspective it focuses on language as a mediator of all his relationships. In this way, violence is understood as a social phenomenon that can occur not only in community environments, but also in institutions such as the family, in workplaces and definitely in educational institutions. The current Cuban school does not escape the effects of this scourge, in this context it adopts the name school violence, it is frequently identified in any type of education.
The theoretical systematization carried out allows us to know that several investigations focused on school violence are currently disseminated, some provide definitions, others address its origin in schools, and they associate it with the relationships of schoolchildren and ways of treating discipline, by teachers of the first traditional public schools. In this way it is explained that the manifestations of violence are an expression of non-compliance with school rules and regulations that turned out to be very demanding given the rebellious nature of the students.
From pedagogy, researchers who provide definitions of violence stand out, among the most recent are those of Cala (2019) and Rodney and García (2020). This research assumes that provided by Rodney and García (2020), these authors define it as any action or omission that occurs as a result of the inappropriate use of power by any member of the educational community that infringes the rights of people, the development of the personality of the student, cause material damage and affect the quality of education. It reflects the detrimental effects of violence in schools.
School violence presents several manifestations in this regard, agrees with Regueira (2008) when distinguishing its classification based on:
1. - The number of subjects involved: This criterion essentially points to the sociological and serves as support for understanding the impact of violence and the quality of health of interpersonal relationships, can be individual or group. Individual violence, which is expressed through interpersonal relationships and has its origin in society, it refers to the phenomena associated with the so-called citizen security and includes suicide and other self-abusive acts. Group violence, also called collective, is the type that occurs when society collectively, or by significantly important groups of it, participates actively and publicly in its exercise.
2. - The specific expressions adopted by the manifestations of violence in the school, family and community context, and play a valuable methodological role because it shows the entire spectrum that they cover. They can be physical violence: It appears when a subject exerts his power over the other and damages his physical integrity through bodily abuse. Verbal violence is structured on the basis of the use of language with the deliberate intention of harming or damage the interlocutor.
Within the second classification, psychological violence stands out, defined as the set of resources used to manipulate, intimidate, diminish or stigmatize the other in order to lead him to a situation of subordination or helplessness with respect to the intentions of the one who exercises it. Gestural violence is structured on the basis of the use of non-verbal language with the deliberate intention of harming or damaging the interlocutor and includes the use of silence for harmful purposes. Symbolic violence, on its part, consists of the set of educational contents that are instilled in the subject with the deliberate purpose of inducing the acceptance of the prevailing order by institutionalized means.
Sexual violence is the structuring of behaviors aimed at imposing the acceptance of intentions in the sexual sphere, by various means and methods that are harmful to the other. Environmental violence is expressed in the relationships that are established between the subject and the environment, and is characterized by the fact that one or both are damaged and includes mistreatment of social property, destruction of biotics and other attacks on the physical environment. That is why to avoid any violent manifestation, prevention is needed.
The consultation of the criteria of Rodríguez (2017), allows us to know that the term prevention is not exclusive to education. Its use is associated with the application of certain measures or the taking of precautions so that specific damage does not occur. This author considers that the concept of prevention is widely used and means adopting as many measures as necessary to prevent some deficiencies in development from occurring or when they do occur, they do not have negative physical, psychological or social consequences. It involves research, knowledge of reality, reflection, planning, teamwork, evaluation and overview.
The criteria of Rodríguez (2017) related to the essential features of prevention are assumed, these are:
In summary, it can be said that preventive work implies being trained and willing to avoid the risks or consequences that a problem can produce. It is creatively adjusting to constant problems and looking for solutions and/or alternatives to them. In this way, the need for preventive action is determined by the will to reduce the factors that hinder the aspirations of man, to provide him with mental health, as well as obtaining effective results in the efforts for the treatment that is provided.
The school institution is a space of interrelation, where favorable conditions must be created so that the conflicts that are generated within these relationships are with a tendency to grow and contribute to the prevention of violent behavior. The commitment of the directors and teachers of the campus must be coupled with the awareness to detect the real needs of the professionals, the students and the family, in this way the preventive work of the educational institution will be projected. In this sense, the case studies constitute a valuable tool for the preventive work that is carried out with the schoolchildren of the primary educational level.
To carry out the case study, the psychological interview is used to learn relevant aspects of the subject and deepen into their main conflicts, needs and motivations. The observation of behavior in the school context to analyze the congruence between the verbal and non-verbal expressions of the student, from its use it is possible to confirm, deepen or question the results shown by the other methods and techniques.
The autobiography technique is used to approach the life story and the vital events that have influenced their behavior. The composition technique is used to know their self-concept and self-assessment, as well as their main conceptions about morality, norms and values, as well as to favor an approach to how these influence their behavior.
Subject ALC is an 11-year-old, sixth grade student. He is a mixed race male subject who lives with his mother, brother and sister older than him, in an environment with a low cultural level. The son of divorced parents, he is the product of a pregnancy desired by the mother but not by the father. The subject behaves violently in the school context, physically assaulting his classmates, causing serious injuries that condition referral to emergency medical centers.
The responsible teacher on several occasions has informed the mother about the violence that he manifests, several analyzes have been carried out in the direction of the educational institution. The educational psychologist has held talks and conversations with the child, but the behavior has not changed.
The subject lives in a rural community. The community environment is unfavorable with the presence of alcoholism, unrelated to work with a strong manifestation of illegal games, theft of major and minor cattle. In the daily life of the community, disgraces and disturbances of public order are frequent. There have been 3 incidences of crimes of passion, among other events that negatively influence the harmony of the community.
History of the subject:
The interview with family members and teachers, reveals that the subject's mother is a psychiatric patient, decompensating during pregnancy and being aggressive, depressed, and did not cooperate during medical treatment. She currently suffers from frequent neurotic crises with mutilation of the body in his presence, causing serious injuries to both hands. Absent father and disregard of the subject's education, he is currently confined in a penal institution.
The economic and housing conditions are awful. In the family environment, inappropriate educational methods are used, such as permissiveness and inconsistency, which hinder the development of the adolescent's personality, does not comply with schedules, is absent from home without justification and meets with subjects of dubious moral character. In his home there are family conflicts leading to physical and verbal aggressiveness between family members.
He is currently in sixth grade, during this school year he has presented a variation in his behavior that manifests itself in the school environment with a lack of respect for teachers, he utters profanity and has tried to hit some of his teachers. He has bad relationships with his classmates; he has physically assaulted some of them with blunt objects, causing them serious injuries. His classmates have been referred to a hospital institution.
His presence is frequent in fights within the school, altering discipline and school organization. He does not copy and prevents his classmates from taking notes, interruptions classes and throws papers, speaks loudly to interrupt and attract the attention of his classmates. He has been analyzed on several occasions by his teachers, for escaping from the center, for fulfilling the activities assigned to him, for wearing the uniform incorrectly, and for wandering around the center. He projects himself as a negative leader inciting his classmates to insubordination; he leads a group of students who encourage violence within the educational institution.
In the review of the LAC file, it is possible to verify that in the Preschool grade he presented an adaptation problem, with frequent crying and beating on the floor. In Primary Education he is sometimes very hyperactive, sometimes he gets depressed and cries for no reason, but he did not accept being comforted, when someone approaches him he reacts violently. At the age of 9, he was treated with the specialty of psychiatry with ADHD ID plus behavioral disorders, Thioridazine 1 tablet was prescribed for breakfast and lunch.
Energization:
The observation of the activities of his daily life, allow us to deduce that he is a subject with a very active rhythm of life, he does not follow the orders of adults, nor is he governed by schedules established by other people, he himself organizes their time in correspondence of what they want or not to do and what motivates him.
Internality:
In the interview, the subject refers that what he likes the most is "sharing with his friends, going around the neighborhood and parties." He dislikes “not having money”. In the autobiography, he states that "I would like to be a successful person, that people would always respect me and sometimes fear me", it is inferred that his motivational level depends on his personal experiences and the material deficiencies he has experienced since childhood. His main needs are oriented towards the satisfaction of his personal needs in this regard, he states "my greatest aspiration is to have a lot of clothes, that I don't lack money and always have good things".
Systemic:
By observing the activities of their daily life and the activities within the school context, it is known that there is a coherence in their behavior that depends on what they consider good or bad as a result of family influence, this could be verified through the interview to relatives when referring to the mother "I don't have time to be on top of that little boy", regarding his behavior she refers "he does what he wants" it is inferred that from the family context he does not exert an adequate influence on the subject education. This determines that the behavior of the subject is in contradiction with what is established in the educational institution and breaks with conventional patterns, it is inferred that their moral judgments are poorly developed with latent contradictions between what should be and their performance.
Efficacy:
The in-depth interview allows us to know their conceptions about violence, since they consider that life is a jungle in this regard, they state that "life is a jungle and they have taught me to be a lion not to stop until I see the blood", but his violence in interpersonal relationships stands out when he expresses “I don't like conflicts, but when I am in them I go to the end”. These elements are reaffirmed in the composition made by the subject about violence when he refers to "I have learned that when you are going to stab someone you should not do it through the arms, because my mother did it several times without dying, it is better to do it through the neck or the belly that is more effective" it is inferred that the subject has mistaken conceptions of life when considering that this is a jungle, attributes a lot of competitiveness and violence. What he has learned in the social context displaces them from their school context and makes them project negative behavior towards society.
Refinement:
In the interview with teachers they refer "ALC is projected as a negative leader, currently he is followed by a group of students who get involved in violent situations that affect the discipline of the educational institution. It is frequent to see him with people who are in the criminal potential recorded by the local police "it is inferred that the violent behavior of the subject has evolved having the capacity to induce violence in others.
Intervention proposal
Objective: To make the LAC subject perceive the damages of his violent behavior for his social relations.
Methods: Awareness
This method aims to make the subject aware of the implications of his violent behavior, for the development of new behaviors and achieve an adequate social insertion in correspondence with what society establishes.
Conclusions The ALC subject manifests deviant behavior, which tends to behave violently with teachers and classmates, causing serious injuries to his classmates. The subject has developed in an adverse family and community context that has negatively influenced his formation, including violence between his parents and repeated attempts aggression by his mother. These influences cause him not to appreciate what is correct or not in his social relationships, that is why it is concluded that the affective experiences that influence him in the social context displace him from his school context and make him project negative behavior before society and this particular context.
Conclusions of the case study
Actions:
1. Individual interview with the minor, it is suggested to carry out this action the use of some questions such as:
Do you recognize when you have done something wrong?
Do you know how to improve your negative actions?
How important do you think it is to feel loved and protected?
What do you think about violence?
Do you know how to self-control your social behavior?
2. Educational talk on violence and its impact on social relationships.
3. Group conversation on how to maintain adequate relationships in the school context
4. Reflective meeting about the rules of coexistence and their importance for school life.
5. Carry out exchanges with schoolchildren in an environment that excludes manifestations of violence where there is an adequate psychological environment.
CONCLUSIONS
In Cuba, the educational institution does not escape the effects of school violence; it is even evident that the actions carried out in schools are not fully effective. That is why it is necessary to implement alternative solutions to the given incidents and searches for preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of other types of incidents in the school.
The studies related to violence are based on the contributions of different sciences such as: sociology, psychology, pedagogy, politics, which shows that school violence receives an approach from the national and international level, from each country are assumed active positions in the fight against this problem. In Cuba, despite being among the countries with the lowest incidence of violence in schools, extreme measures must be taken, mainly from a preventive-developing level, guaranteeing the full development of the personality of schoolchildren.
In the research, a holistic view of school violence is presented; the contributions of the researchers consulted allow us to have a concrete vision of this complex and multi-causal phenomenon. In this way, it is concluded that studying school violence attaches considerable importance to educational prevention in the institution, for its treatment, it is also interesting the relevance it has for the teaching-learning process based on the fulfillment of its goals and training objectives.
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