Abstract
Teacher-directed violence (TDV), or violence in schools directed toward teachers, is a growing concern in contemporary schools (Bounds & Jenkins, Contemporary School Psychology, 20, 1–9, 2016; Espelage et al. 2011). Existing research suggests that some teachers are more at risk of TDV (e.g., teachers whom are White, female, homosexual, religious, older, or those teaching high school) but it is unclear if teachers from all school settings (i.e., rural, urban, or suburban) experience similar levels of TDV and stress associated with TDV. Additionally, there has been no research in the USA examining how teachers cope with teacher-directed violence. Little is known about to whom teachers reach out for social support and if that social support is effective in moderating teacher stress. Past research demonstrates that teaching is a high-stress occupation (Fimian, Exceptional Children, 52, 436–442, Fimian 1988), and some of this stress could be related to experiences of violence. The current study examined differences in TDV experiences among 117 rural, urban, and suburban teachers in the Midwest. Analyses revealed that teachers in urban schools experienced the highest levels of TDV, followed by teachers in rural schools, then suburban teachers. A similar result was found when teachers were asked about stress they experienced that was specific to violence at work. Interestingly, when assessing work stress, suburban teachers had the highest levels of work stress, followed by urban, then rural teachers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abel, M. H., & Sewell, J. (1999). Stress and burnout in rural and urban secondary school teachers. The Journal of Educational Research, 92, 287–293.
Atav, S., & Spencer, G. A. (2002). Health risk behaviors among adolescents attending rural, suburban, and urban schools: a comparative study. Family and Community Health, 25, 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1097/00003727-200207000-00007.
Bounds, C., & Jenkins, L. (2016). Teacher directed violence in relation to social support and stress. Contemporary School Psychology, 20, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-016-0091-0.
Brunetti, G. J. (2001). Why do they teach? A study of job satisfaction among long-term high school teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 28, 49–67.
Dzuka, J., & Dalbert, C. (2007). Student violence against teachers. European Psychologist, 12, 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.12.4.253.
Espelage, D., Anderman, E. M., Brown, V. E., Jones, A., Lane, K. L., McMahon, S. D., et al. (2011). Understanding and preventing violence directed against teachers: recommendations for a national research, practice, and policy agenda. The American Psychologist, 68, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031307.
Fimian, M. J. (1986). Social support and occupational stress in special education. Exceptional Children, 52, 436–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440298605200505.
Fimian, M. (1988). Teacher Stress Inventory [Measurement instrument]. Retrieved from: http://www.instructionaltech.net/TSI/.
Fimian, M., & Fastenau, P. (1990). The validity and reliability of the Teacher Stress Inventory: a re-analysis of aggregate data. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11, 151–157.
Goldstein, S. E., Young, A., & Boyd, C. (2008). Relational aggression at school: associations with school safety and social climate. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 641–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9192-4.
Grant, S. G. (2000). Teachers and tests: exploring teachers’ perception of changes in the New York State testing program. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8, 1–28.
Gritz, R. M., & Theobald, N. D. (1996). The effects of school district spending priorities on length of stay in teaching. Journal of Human Resources, 31, 477–513. https://doi.org/10.2307/146262.
Horng, E. (2005). Poor working conditions make urban schools hard-to-staff. University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity. UC Berkeley: University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0269b641.
Ingersoll, R. (2001). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 499–534. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038003499.
Johnson, J., & Strange, M. (2007). Why Rural Matters 2007: the realities of rural education growth. Rural School and Community Trust. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498859.pdf.
Johnson, S., Cooper, C., Cartwright, S., Donald, I., Taylor, P., & Millet, C. (2005). The experience of work-related stress across occupations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 20, 178–187. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940510579803.
Kauppi, T., & Pörhölä, M. (2012). School teachers bullied by their students: teachers’ attributions and how they share their experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 1059–1068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.05.009.
Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2002). Teacher sorting and the plight of urban schools: a descriptive analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24, 37–62. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737024001037.
Leadbeater, B. J., Sukhawathanakul, P., Smith, A., Yeung Thompson, R. S., Gladstone, E. J., & Sklar, N. (2013). Bullying and victimization in rural schools: risks, reasons, and responses. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 8, 31–47.
Mahan, P. L., Mahan, M. P., Park, N. J., Shelton, C., Brown, K. C., & Weaver, M. T. (2010). Work environment stressors, social support, anxiety, and depression among secondary school teachers. AAOHN Journal, 58, 197–205.
Martinez, A., McMahon, S. D., Espelage, D., Anderman, E. M., Reddy, L. A., & Sanchez, B. (2016). Teachers’ experiences with multiple victimization: Identifying demographic, cognitive, and contextual correlates. Journal of School Violence, 15, 387–405. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2015.1056879.
McMahon, S. D., Martinez, A., Espelage, D., Rose, C., Reddy, L. A., Lane, K., & Brown, V. (2014). Violence directed against teachers: Results from a national survey. Psychology in the Schools, 51, 753–766. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21777.
Mooij, T. (2011). Secondary school teachers' personal and school characteristics, experience of violence and perceived violence motives. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 17, 227–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.539803
Ozkilic, R., & Kartal, H. (2012). Teachers bullied by their students: how their classes influenced after being bullied? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 3435–3439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.080.
Pas, E. T., Bradshaw, C. P., & Hershfeldt, P. A. (2012). Teacher-and school-level predictors of teacher efficacy and burnout: Identifying potential areas for support. Journal of School Psychology, 50, 129–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.07.003.
Patterson, G. R. (1976). The aggressive child: Victim and architect of a coercive system. In E. Mash, L. A. Hamerlynch, & L. C. Handy (Eds.), Behavior modification and families. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Reddy, L. A., Espelage, D., McMahon, S. D., Anderman, E. M., Lane, K. L., Brown, V. E., et al. (2013). Violence against teachers: case studies from the APA task force. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 1, 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2013.837019.
Sauter, S., Murphy, L., Colligan, M., Swanson, N., Hurrell, J., Scharf, F. S., et al. (1999). Stress at work (DHHS publication no. 99–101). Cincinnati: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Smith, D. L., & Smith, B. J. (2006). Perceptions of violence: the views of teachers who left urban schools. The High School Journal, 89, 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2006.0004.
Smokowski, P. R., Cotter, K. L., Robertson, C., & Guo, S. (2013). Demographic, psychological, and school environment correlates of bullying victimization and school hassles in rural youth. Journal of Criminology, 2013, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/137583.
Stanford, B. H. (2001). Reflections of resilient, persevering urban teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 28, 75–85.
Tinsley, H. E., & Weiss, D. J. (1975). Interrater reliability and agreement of subjective judgments. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 22, 358–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076640.
Travers, C. J., & Cooper, C. L. (1996). Teachers under pressure: stress in the teaching profession. London: Routledge, Psychology Press.
Türküm, A. S. (2011). Social supports preferred by the teachers when facing school violence. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 644–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.11.005.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Lyndsay N. Jenkins was at Eastern Illinois University when data were collected.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bounds, C., Jenkins, L.N. Teacher-Directed Violence and Stress: the Role of School Setting. Contemp School Psychol 22, 435–442 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-018-0180-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-018-0180-3