Arab and Jewish elementary school students' perceptions of fear and school violence: understanding the influence of school context.

Full Abstract

This inquiry explores variables that predict elementary school students' fear of attending school due to school violence and their overall judgments of school violence as a problem. Using a nationally representative sample (Israel) of 5,472 elementary-school-aged children, this study tested the hypotheses that:
(a) young students' personal fear of attending school due to violence, and (b) students' assessment of a school violence problem, are best understood as separate conceptual constructs. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed theoretical model for the sample as a whole and separately for across gender and for Arab and Jewish students. Student fear of attending school due to violence was related directly to experiences of personal victimization on school grounds by students and teachers. Children's judgments of their schools' overall violence problem were influenced directly by the school climate, risky peer-group behaviours, and personal victimization. The findings provide evidence that the proposed theoretical model applies across gender groups and for both Arab and Jewish students. Implications for policy, theory, and future research are highlighted.

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Author information

Author/s: Astor, Ron Avi (RA); Benbenishty, Rami (R); Vinokur, Amiram D (AD); Zeira, Anat (A);

Affiliation: School of Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089-0411, USA. rastor(-atsign-)usc.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The British journal of educational psychology (Br J Educ Psychol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Mar; vol 76 (issue Pt 1) : pp 91-118

Dates: Created 2006/03/31; Completed 2006/05/11; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16573981, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Arabs
Attitude - ethnology
Child
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Fear
Female
Humans
Israel

Jews
Male
Questionnaires
Schools
Social Environment
Social Perception
Students - psychology
Violence

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