NCJ Number
181070
Editor(s)
Alan W. Heston
Date Published
2000
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Violence in schools is a serious issue that is often analyzed in terms of individual tendencies toward destructive behavior; while this path of analysis is important, the author contextualizes violence within a cultural milieu that alienates students from their fundamental yearning for significance.
Abstract
Violence is viewed as a failed epiphany, that is, a heightened moment of awareness emerging out of the daily flow of experiences that seeks to overcome alienation. Violence fails because it cannot create a world of sustainable meaning. The nature of productive epiphanies and the world of sustainable meaning they evoke are discussed in terms of their implications for education and overcoming violence in schools. The author indicates that effective education requires moving from merely preparing students for jobs by giving them specific skills to providing an intrinsic sense of the development of vital interests. 5 references