Cycle of Violence and Disconnection Among Rural Middle School Students: Teacher Disconnection as a Consequence of Violence

• NCJ Number: 193863
• Journal: Journal of School Violence Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: 2002 Pages: 35-51
• Author(s): Michael J. Karcher
• Editor(s): Edwin R. Gerler Jr.
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the cycle of youth violence and the relationships between parenting practices, past violent behavior in rural elementary schools and feelings of connectedness to school and to teachers among rural middle school students.

Abstract

Prior research has linked parenting practices and parental conflict to violence among youth. With this linkage, it was likely that those youth whose parents were less caring, who provided harsh or inconsistent expectations, and who engaged in conflictive and combative interactions with their children were more likely to have children who became violent in school and whose violent behaviors undermined their connectedness to school and to teachers. This study examined this relationship between parenting practice, past violent behavior in elementary school, and feelings of connectedness to school and teachers among middle school students. The study hypothesized that there would be direct effects of parenting practices on both children’s violent behavior and on their children’s connectedness to school. The diverse study sample consisted of 136 middle-school aged youth from a rural town in the Midwest. Data were collected through a self-report survey. The results suggest that adolescents’ disconnection from school and teachers might result from their prior violent behavior and from their experiences with their parents. The hypothesized model suggests direct effects of parenting practices on the youths’ violent behavior and their connectedness to school and teachers. Lastly, through the impact that parenting has on violent behavior; there is an indirect effect of parenting on youth’s disconnection from school and teachers. The findings suggest that violence is more strongly related to interpersonal disconnection from teachers than to generalized disconnection from school. In addition, it was most clearly suggested that when teachers were asked to prevent or react to types of violence that had their source in the home the same experiences of rejection and disconnection that might have instigated the violence might also undermine the students’ trust and openness to those teachers reaching out to the students. Tables and references