Emotional abuse and reflections in educational institutions: A qualitative study

This research is a qualitative study on emotional abuse university students were exposed by teachers and school administrators in former education institutions and the individual effects of this experience. 18 individuals (11 female, 7 male) studying their eighth semester at Çukurova University Faculty of Education Psychological Counseling and Guidance Bachelor Program were the participants of the study. In the research, in order to collect the data 'semi-structured interview form' prepared by the researcher was used and 'personal information form' to collect demographic information of participants. The data obtained was analyzed via content analysis one of qualitative data analysis methods and the themes were presented. As a result of the research, findings about emotional abuse that individuals exposed by teachers and school administrators in educational institution and its effects were gathered under 10 themes. These themes are as follows: 1)emotional abuse and types of emotional abuse, 2)emotional abuse being exposed in education institution and its characteristics, 3)subjective effects of emotional abuse in educational institution, 4)the effect of emotional abuse in education institution on individual's family and friend relationships, 5) the effect of emotional abuse in education institution on individual's education life, 6) contribution of emotional abuse experienced to the individual and the obstacles it creates in his/her life, 7) self-designs that could have formed if there wasn't any exposure to emotional abuse in educational institution, 8)the attitude that could be adopted as a psychological counselor regarding emotional abuse behavior in education institution, 9) suggestions to prevent emotional abuse in educational institution and 10) the importance of study regarding emotional abuse in education institution in terms of psychological counseling and guidance. The results of the research indicate that those exposed to emotional abuse by teachers and school administrators in educational institutions carry and carry on the effects of this experience for a long time. Although the individual supported by his/her family and the neighborhood it has been observed that emotional abuse has multiple effects on his/her emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Keywords: Abuse, emotional abuse, educational institutions.