Teenagers' Values Play Role in Determining if They Will Behave Violently at School

Teenagers' Values Play Role in Determining if They Will Behave Violently at School

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found that the values that children believe in help determine whether they will take part in violent behavior at school, and especially at schools at which violence is prevalent. The research, that was published in the leading journal Child Development, suggests that if education will stress certain values to the students, this will reduce violent behavior in schools.

The researchers, Dr. Ariel Knafo and Ella Daniel from the Department of Psychology and Dr. Mona Khoury-Kassabri from the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare distributed questionnaires among 907 teenagers attending thirty-three Jewish and Arab schools, grades ten to twelve. The teenagers answered questions on the importance of ten different values and their own violent behavior and that of their classmates.

Values were defined as goals and ideas that the students saw as important and guiding principles in their lives. Violent behavior was defined as actions like hitting and threatening. The prevalence of violence in the schools was estimated by averaging, in each school, adolescents' reports of their own violent behavior, violent behavior by their two best friends, and the violence they had encountered at school.

The study reveals that in both Jewish and Arab schools, adolescents who value power (trying to attain social status by controlling and dominating others) reported more violent behavior than their peers. Teenagers who valued universalism (promoting understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protecting the welfare of all people and nature) and those who valued conformity (limiting actions and urges that might violate social expectations and norms) reported less violent behavior than their peers. According to the researchers, the connection between values of power and universalism to teenagers' behavior was especially strong in schools where students had frequent exposure to violence.

According to Dr. Ariel Knafo, the main author of the research, the findings show that even across different cultural contexts, values – as with personal and family factors - can prevent violent behavior. "The research results suggest that programs that promote universal values instead of power values can, if properly implemented, help reduce violence in schools."