The role of the teacher in rule-breaking behaviors observed among middle and high school students

Although there is a considerable amount of research on students' rule-breaking behaviors, it has been observed that there is a scarcity of studies specifically focusing on the role of teachers in the rule-breaking behaviors of students, particularly in the literature of Türkiye. This study aims to investigate the influence of teachers on the rule-breaking behaviors displayed during childhood, which are seen as early indicators of criminal behaviors, considering various variables. The research sample comprises 386 teachers working in middle and high schools across different cities in Türkiye. In this study, "Personal Information Form," the "Scale for Determining the Frequency of Rule-Breaking Behaviors Observed by Teachers in Students," the ''Teacher Attitude Scale Towards Undesirable Intraclass Behaviors of Students,'' (Şentürk, 2010) the "Types of Discipline Scale," (Esen, 2006) and the "Empathic Tendency Scale." (Dökmen, 1988) were used to collect data. The data obtained from the participants was analyzed with SPSS 27.0 software. The results of the study show that teachers who have negative attitudes towards students' undesirable behaviors, negative discipline styles, and low empathic tendencies are more likely to witness rule-breaking behavior in their students. Moreover, it was found that teachers exhibiting negative attitudes towards students' undesirable behaviors and having negative discipline styles had a higher number of students receiving disciplinary actions. However, there was no correlation found between teachers' empathic tendency and the frequency of students facing disciplinary actions. In addition, further analyses were performed to investigate the correlations among the variables in the study and the differences between the groups. Including other variables that may impact teachers' attitudes towards students' rule- breaking behaviors while conducting future studies on this topic is considered crucial. This could serve as a protective factor in teachers' efforts to deter children from exhibiting rule-breaking behaviors and in the development of related preventive programs. Keywords: Rule-breaking behaviors, teacher-student relationship, teachers' attitudes, discipline styles, empathic tendency