Associations between Teacher- and Student-directed Sexual and Physical Violence in Physical Education.

Marja Kokkonen,Arto Gråstén

doi:10.1177/0886260520959640

Abstract

This study examined relationships between teachers’ perceptions of verbal and non-verbal sexual harassment and physical violence against teachers and among students in physical education (PE). Participants were 175 (females 122, males 53) Finnish PE teachers between 27 and 62 years (M = 44.8 ± 9.2 years). The cross-sectional data were collected by an anonymous online survey in the fall semester 2018. The findings showed that (a) higher levels of verbal sexual harassment and physical violence among students were associated with higher levels of equivalent types of violence against PE teachers, (b) higher levels of verbal and non-verbal sexual harassment among students were associated with higher levels of physical assaults among students, whereas only non-verbal sexual harassment was associated with physical violence against teachers, and (c) verbal sexual harassment and physical violence among students occurred more frequently in PE classes instructed by less experienced teachers. The results indicated that to prevent both teacher- and student-directed verbal sexual harassment and physical violence in school PE, special attention could be given to the positive development of student–student relationships.

Highlights

School violence is a growing concern in many Western countries (Maeng et al, 2020)
Based on the standardized values (± 3.00), three significant outliers were found in the scores for nonverbal sexual harassment against physical education (PE) teachers (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007)
The main findings showed that (a) higher levels of verbal sexual harassment and physical violence among students were reflected in higher levels of equivalent types of violence against PE teachers, (b) higher levels of verbal and non-verbal sexual harassment were linked to higher physical assaults among students, whereas only nonverbal sexual harassment was associated with physical violence against PE teachers, and (c) verbal sexual harassment and physical incidents among students occurred more frequently in PE classes instructed by less experienced PE teachers

Summary

Introduction

School violence is a growing concern in many Western countries (Maeng et al, 2020). The risk for being sexually harassed or physically assaulted may be higher for physical education (PE) teachers than those in other school subjects, as non-existent desk-time does not restrict social opportunities (Garn et al, 2011) and movements or injury prevention in sport classes are typically performed through physical contact or touching (Öhman & GrunbergSandell, 2015). The primary objective of this study on sexual and physical violence both by students against teachers and between students themselves was to shed light on these associations in a school subject (PE) that is very different in nature from other subjects on the curriculum. Interpersonal violence includes both sexual and physical violence. In the national School Health Promotion Study conducted in Finland 4.5% of students in grades 8 and 9 (51% girls) and 3.5% of boys had experienced some type of sexual harassment at school during the past 12 months (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, 2019).

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion