School climate and prevention of violence

Abstract

The article we are presenting opposes the representation of violence at schools as an external factor and shows how research clearly suggests the existence of causes associated to the school context itself. It also attempts to demonstrate how actions for intervention and prevention can only be effective if the «school climate» is extensively modified, both in terms of relationships between pupils and adults and relations between members of the teaching staff. Examining the school-related factors behind violence in schools does not imply making judgements about schools or the professionals that work in them; it implies measuring whether it is possible to act; it implies attempting to identify, on the one hand, the aspects in which support can be given to reinforce the staff ’s resistance and, on the other, what can be corrected in order to reduce the risk of violence.