DETECTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXPOSURE OF ADOLESCENTS IN SLOVENE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

The article presents the research the intention of which is to determine the sensitivity of Slovene schools for the recognition of domestic violence exposure of adolescents and to investigate the practice and difficulties of Slovene secondary schools in detecting domestic violence and the resulting actions thereof. The results show that there are big differences between Slovene secondary schools in detecting domestic violence exposure of adolescents. The fear expressed by the teachers and school counsellors concerning their responsibility for intervening in a family is also important because it seems a significant part of the decision-making about reporting domestic violence. The majority of school counsellors interviewed feel helpless after making a report; this could also be related to respondents’ prevailing dissatisfaction with the actions of other institutions. In the procedure of reporting domestic violence a quarter of teachers and school counsellors do not always have the support of the management.