Causes of School-Based Violence in South African Public Schools: Application of Normalisation Theory to Understand the Phenomenon through Educators’ Perspectives

Abstract

The article uses the normalisation theory to understand, through the analysis of educators’ perspectives, how school-based violence could be curbed in South African public schools. School-based violence is mostly the result of the normalisation process whereby children who are exposed to more risk than protective factors are said to be more likely to use violence. The causes of school-based violence, as revealed in the small-scale study conducted in South Africa, are discussed. The main aim of the study was to examine educators’ perspectives on violence in schools. The objective of the study was to look at causes of school violence and how the school managers and educators are coping with violence. Qualitative research was used and individual and focus group interviews were conducted to collect data from school management teams and educators. The findings indicate that while children who are not exposed to violence can still be violent, children who are constantly exposed to violence display violent behaviours more often than those who are not. The article then suggests the incorporation of the Invitational Educational theory of practice as a strategy to reduce school-based violence as this theory takes into account the normalisation of violence among children..

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1394