Att hantera hot och våld i skolan. En kriminologisk studie om personalutsatthet och åtgärder – en granskning av hantering av hot och våld mot personal i kommunala grundskolor i Göteborgs kommun.

Abstract

Aims and objectives: The aim of this study is to understand and explain the process of handling violence and threats against pedagogic personnel in public schools. This study foremost takes a theoretical outset from a work-environment perspective and a crime perspective that has emerged from extensive pragmatic studies on work related violence in Sweden. The study focuses on the terms and conditions sanctioned by the school organization, and how its institutional structure affects the process of handling threats and violence against the employees. Crime prevention and measures taken for the wellbeing and security of the victims also come into light as I study the effects of the handling process. Method and data: The process of collecting data has mainly proceeded from a deductive standpoint. It is a qualitative, multiple case study and consists both of documents and interviews and is processed with a content-analyze method. The results are analyzed and presented both case by case, and through a collective presentation. Results: The main result argues that in these three specific cases, the crime perspective primarily dominates how violence and threats are treated and handled in the school organization. This has largely to do with the use of a legal approach in acting to these types of behavior, but it is also based on the basic principles which the organization rests upon. The way of acting towards work related violence and threats, is through the study shown to be linked to aspects of both the individual crime victim, the judgment of the management, legal premises and the framework of the school organization. Through the study these main factors that inflect on the process of handling violence and threats against pedagogical personnel are lifted and analyzed. The result of this study concludes that even though the handling plans address violence towards school personnel, most of the procedures and measures taken to solve the problematic situation are directed against the perpetrators, rather than towards the victim.