The prevalence of violence in elementary schools: School climate, school culture and physical conditions

The purpose of this study was to examine both the students' and teachers' evaluations about the school climate and the school culture in elementary schools where violence takes place and to examine the physical conditions in these schools. The population consisted 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students and their teachers where violence incidents were experienced during the years 2009-2010 in public schools in Seyhan, Adana. The sample of the study consisted 3 schools basing the proper sample method, after determining the list of schools having the risk of violenceby Seyhan RAM ( Counselling Research Center). Participants included 411 students (197 female and 214 male), and 77 teachers (62 female and 15 male). In this study, as a data collecting means Comprehensive Assesment of School Environment CASE, Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire, OCDQ, School Culture Survey was used and an observation form prepared by the researcher was used to determine the physical conditions of the schools. The collected data was evaluated with independent samples t test and fixed effects variance analysis and as thesignificance level p<,05 was used. The results showed that girls had positive perceptions of guiding, lesson management, sexualharrassment and sexual discrimination compared to boys; youngerstudents had more positive perceptions about the school climate then older students. It was found that 8th grade students felt safer than any other grades. It was also found that the gender of the teachers had no role in their perceptions about the school climate and the school culture. For the teachers regarding their experience in the same school, their 'indulgence' for school climate was 11 years and for those who works in the same school longer, it was more positive; in their school climate perceptions there was a significant difference in the subdimensions of 'teachers collaboration' and 'common goal' and the ones working 11 years or more were more positive. It was revealed that in the schools with violence, the school population was high, the physical conditions, the building and the playground were inadequate.Keywords: School Violence, School Climate, SchoolCulture, Physical Conditions of the School.