The Determinants of Learners’ Aggressive Behaviour (original) (raw)
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Curationis, 2015
Background: A number of reports to the Department of Education indicated high levels of aggression in a Grade 10 A class in a secondary school in Sedibeng District, Gauteng. Teachers, the school management team, school governing body, school-based support team, parents, community leaders and learners seemed unable to manage this constructively. Neither the culture of aggression nor the influence of this phenomenon on those entrapped in it were understood. No published research reports could be found on cultures of aggression in South African secondary schools. There was therefore a dire need to explore and describe the culture of aggression in this specific Grade 10 A class.Objectives: This article reports on patterns of a culture of aggression observed amongst learners in a Grade 10 class in a secondary school in the Sedibeng District of the Gauteng Department of Education.Method: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was followed with an ethnograph...
Learners' aggressive behaviour in secondary school: a psycho-social perspective
2009
This study was undertaken to determine the extent of aggressive behaviour exhibited by secondary school learners. Many factors were considered when investigating the problem of aggressive behaviour. The problem was traced from the theorists' perspectives and factors related to the family, school and community. An extensive literature review showed that the above factors contribute to aggressive behaviour among adolescents. In order to support or reject the findings of the literature study, quantitative (questionnaire) research and qualitative research (interviews) were conducted. The results of the quantitative research concerning learners' aggressive behaviour in secondary schools were analysed and interpreted while at the same time a deeper understanding of aggressive behaviour was revealed through qualitative research. The results of the empirical research indicated that the more negative the family climate, school climate, community climate or influence of friends are, or the more negative the emotional self-concept of the adolescent is, the more aggressive the adolescent is, and vice versa. Based on these findings recommendations for the implementation of prevention programmes were made.
Exploring the Relationship between Learners’ Aggressive Behaviour and Disrupted Family Life
The Anthropologist, 2012
This paper debates the assumption that the disrupted family life contributes to aggressive behaviour exhibited by learners. The literature review showed that some aspects of the disrupted family life contribute to aggressive behaviour in learners. A small-scale research study was conducted in the Free State province of South Africa to explore whether the framework and findings taken from the literature on learners' aggressive behaviour are applicable in the context of South Africa. The data indicated that negativity in some families potentially results in learners' aggressive behaviour. The paper recommends intervention strategies that target learners and family members in order to reduce learners' aggressive behaviour. The inclusive intervention programmes outlined in the article are essential for reducing the negative effects on individuals, in the schools and in the family
This study reports the experience of aggression by secondary school learners attending a South African school. There were 14 participants ranging in age from 16 to 19 years (Gender: 6 young women and 8 young men; Ethnicity: 7 Black; 3 Coloured; 2 Indian and 2 White). Data were collected using open ended interviews and analysed using Tesch's (1990) thematic panning method. The findings suggest these learners have little understanding or appreciation of diversity in their multicultural schools. Consequently, they experience negative interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. The accompanying aggression they experience and display has racial and gender overtones that are shaped by the violence in their communities.
International Journal of Social Science Research and Review
In recent years, violence among learners has escalated in many schools in South Africa. This has raised concern in society on whether the measures put in place to address the problem works. For this reason, we set to investigate the cause and measures to curb school violence in two schools in a disadvantaged community of Mabopane, Gauteng Province. We selected a township setting as the context of our research. This choice is informed by frequent occurrences of violence in high schools. We used a qualitative research approach to collect data through semi-structured interviews with twelve learners (n=6) from two high schools in the township of Mabopane. The findings Suggest that lack of control of learners, as demontrated by learners loitering around during clases, gambling, and drug abuse are the primary causes contributing to violence.
South African Medical Journal, 2016
Violence in South Africa (SA) is a social and public health concern. [1] The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence as the intentional use of physical force or power, a threat or actual perpetration against oneself, another person or against a group or community that either results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, death or psychological harm. [2] This includes bullying, physical fights and sexual assault. [2] For many years, young people in SA have been involved in political, criminal and gangrelated violence. [3] There have been numerous research interventions as well as government and non-governmental efforts to prevent this; however, the rates continue to escalate. [4] Of the greatest concern is that young people are becoming perpetrators at a younger age. [3-5] Young people can be harmed in significant and long-lasting ways from exposure to and perpetuation of violence, owing to their vulnerability at home, in school, in the community and in peer environments. [4] Burton and Leoschut [3] report that many young people grow up in homes where they are exposed to intimate partner violence between caregivers and adult family members and abuse perpetrated against children. They further argue that some of these young people have been physically punished by their parents and others have witnessed people in their family intentionally attacking one another physically or using weapons. [3] Young people spend much of their time at school and these schools exist within the broader context of the community. This population is thus affected by the activities, culture and norms of the community. [2,6] Primary social groups, such as family and friendship networks, affect a learner' s social behaviour. [4] Hence, the social ills prevalent in communities are known to infuse the school environment. [3] A national survey on violence among learners from SA high schools studied 5 939 learners between August 2011 and August 2012. This survey reported that one in five learners (22.2%) had experienced some form of violence while at school, 12.2% of the learners had been threatened with violence, 6.3% had been physically assaulted, 4.7% had been sexually assaulted or raped and 4.5% had been robbed. [3] Females are at increased risk of violence as they are often dating men older than themselves. [5] The consequences of violence among learners are well documented in the literature. [3,7] These include psychosocial problems, and poor academic performance and health outcomes. [8] Learners stay away from certain places in school or on the school grounds, [5] some stay away from school-related activities, [6] while others decide to stay out of school and remain at home. [3] Absence from school owing to fear of violence directly affects the psychological wellbeing and academic performance of learners. [5] Violence among young people is associated with depression, unwanted teenage pregnancy and HIV. [9] These consequences are not only linked to the victim but to all persons exposed to actions of violence. [9] Young people are further exposed to other types of violence such as robbery, fights and sexual violence while commuting to and from school. [1-3] Violence in neighbourhoods and communities is precipitated by access to weapons such as guns and sharp objects. [3,5,6] The district of uMgungundlovu, where the study was conducted, is not a stranger to violence. [10] This district municipality comprises seven local municipalities: Impendle, Mkhambathini, Mpofana, Msunduzi, Richmond, uMngeni and uMshwathi. Since the late 1980s and 1990s, violence in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), SA has been characterised by This open-access article is distributed under Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0.
Aggressive Behaviour in Secondary Schools of Mesken Woreda: Types, Magnitude and Associated Factors
Journal of Psychol Behav Sci., 2016
Abstract The objective of this study was to explore types, magnitude, and predictors of aggression as well as methods that teachers use to control aggressions in secondary schools of Meskan woreda of the Gurage zone. Concurrent nested design was used for the study. A total of 352 secondary school students, 18 secondary school teachers and 2 principals participated in the study. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select student participants whereas purposive sampling technique was used to select teachers and principals. Questionnaire that contained items on socio-demographic variables, scales for aggression and parenting styles were used by the researcher to collect information from the students. Qualitative data were collected from teachers and principals through FGD. Descriptive statistics, one sample t- test, and step wise linear regression analysis were conducted to analyze the data. The findings disclosed that the three forms of aggression namely indirect, verbal and physical were prevalent among adolescents in secondary school of Meskan woreda. Regarding the magnitude of aggression, the findings indicate that adolescent in secondary school of Meskan woreda scored relatively high on the measure of indirect aggression. However, as the data show the students reported low level of indirect, verbal and physical aggression as compared to the hypothesized population mean (i.e. 2.0) in each form of aggression. The linear regression analysis reveals that school setting, age, grade level and scores on the measure of perceived parental warmth/love found to be significant predicators of aggression. Together, the four independent variables have explained 12.8% of the variance in aggression. This indicates that only a small but significant part of the variance in aggression was explained by the predictor variables. Regarding the methods teachers used to control aggression advising the wrong doer, handing over the wrong doer to discipline committee, consulting with parents, expelling from class and suspending/dismissing from the school were the most common methods reported by the teachers. Recommendations were also forwarded in the light of the findings. Keywords: Aggressive behavior; Parenting style; Secondary Schools
Swaziland is planning to introduce inclusive education as part of education for all. The innovation may benefit learners with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD). A purposive teacher sample (N = 47) was used to generate and identify behavioural problems that are prevalent in Swazi schools. Aggression was one of the many conduct disorders cited. Using a purposive sample of 300 students, the study found aggression to be indeed a problem among upper primary and junior high school students. The type of school attended was found to be correlated with aggression. Students with moderate to severe aggressive behaviours were found on all categories of learners used in the study. However a significant difference in the number of aggressive students was obtained on only two variables, the type of school students attended and the kind of guardians students lived with at home. There were more students with aggressive tendencies in government schools than other types of schools. Furthermore, aggressive students lived mainly with both biological parents. Teachers rely mainly on punishment to deal with aggressive students. The findings have implications for the ongoing educational reforms concerning inclusive education in Swaziland. Three major recommendations were made to address them. Teacher skills in handling aggressive cases need to be enhanced by both preservice and inservice courses. School counselors need to be appointed to provide suitable psychological intervention. Finally, a more detailed investigation using qualitative procedures was recommended to gain in-depth insights into the problem and its solutions.
C 2010. Disruptive behaviour in the Foundation Phase of schooling
2016
Since the passage of legislation banning corporal punishment in South African schools, disruptive behaviour in schools has become an issue of national concern. Against this background a research project was undertaken in which the types and causes of disruptive behaviour occurring most frequently in the Foundation Phase of schooling were identified, with a view to providing strate-gies for teachers to manage behaviour of this kind. A qualitative research approach was applied. Data collection was done by conducting interviews com-prising semistructured questions with Foundation Phase teachers. Strategies purposely devised to deal specif ically with the identif ied types and causes of disruptive behaviour are explained.