Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism
Scientific and public attention regarding educator-directed violence has increased over the past 15 years; however, research on violence against administrators is limited. Although school administrators are responsible for school performance and safety, they can be particularly vulnerable to violenc...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/556 |
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| author | Susan D. McMahon Andrew H. Perry Taylor Swenski Kailyn Bare Jared Hunt Andrew Martinez Linda A. Reddy Eric M. Anderman Ron Avi Astor Dorothy L. Espelage Frank C. Worrell Christopher M. Dudek |
| author_facet | Susan D. McMahon Andrew H. Perry Taylor Swenski Kailyn Bare Jared Hunt Andrew Martinez Linda A. Reddy Eric M. Anderman Ron Avi Astor Dorothy L. Espelage Frank C. Worrell Christopher M. Dudek |
| author_sort | Susan D. McMahon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scientific and public attention regarding educator-directed violence has increased over the past 15 years; however, research on violence against administrators is limited. Although school administrators are responsible for school performance and safety, they can be particularly vulnerable to violence from students, teachers, and parents. This study includes 497 pre-K–12th grade school administrators in the United States. A path analysis was conducted to examine the associations between administrator perceptions of student-, school-, and community-level strengths and administrator experiences of verbal/threatening and physical violence. Cultural pluralism, which incorporates student and staff support of cultural differences and honors different voices and cultures in curricula and discussion, was investigated as a moderator of these associations. Results indicate that (a) student strengths are associated with less student verbal/threatening violence against administrators; (b) school strengths are associated with less student and colleague verbal/threatening violence against administrators; and (c) community strengths are associated with less physical violence from students and less verbal/threatening violence from parents against administrators. Cultural pluralism practices significantly moderated the relationship between student strengths and physical violence from colleagues. Findings highlight school practices and policies across the school ecology that are associated with less administrator-directed violence. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-61e9eb30695347ba979a8714f3dcd9f4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-61e9eb30695347ba979a8714f3dcd9f42025-08-20T02:28:40ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2025-04-0115455610.3390/bs15040556Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural PluralismSusan D. McMahon0Andrew H. Perry1Taylor Swenski2Kailyn Bare3Jared Hunt4Andrew Martinez5Linda A. Reddy6Eric M. Anderman7Ron Avi Astor8Dorothy L. Espelage9Frank C. Worrell10Christopher M. Dudek11Department of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USADepartment of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USADepartment of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USADepartment of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USADepartment of Psychology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USANew York Center for Justice Innovation, New York, NY 10018, USAGraduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USADepartment of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USASocial Welfare and Education, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USASchool of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USABerkeley School of Education, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAGraduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USAScientific and public attention regarding educator-directed violence has increased over the past 15 years; however, research on violence against administrators is limited. Although school administrators are responsible for school performance and safety, they can be particularly vulnerable to violence from students, teachers, and parents. This study includes 497 pre-K–12th grade school administrators in the United States. A path analysis was conducted to examine the associations between administrator perceptions of student-, school-, and community-level strengths and administrator experiences of verbal/threatening and physical violence. Cultural pluralism, which incorporates student and staff support of cultural differences and honors different voices and cultures in curricula and discussion, was investigated as a moderator of these associations. Results indicate that (a) student strengths are associated with less student verbal/threatening violence against administrators; (b) school strengths are associated with less student and colleague verbal/threatening violence against administrators; and (c) community strengths are associated with less physical violence from students and less verbal/threatening violence from parents against administrators. Cultural pluralism practices significantly moderated the relationship between student strengths and physical violence from colleagues. Findings highlight school practices and policies across the school ecology that are associated with less administrator-directed violence.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/556school violenceadministrator victimizationecological modelstudent, parent, colleague violencecultural pluralism |
| spellingShingle | Susan D. McMahon Andrew H. Perry Taylor Swenski Kailyn Bare Jared Hunt Andrew Martinez Linda A. Reddy Eric M. Anderman Ron Avi Astor Dorothy L. Espelage Frank C. Worrell Christopher M. Dudek Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism Behavioral Sciences school violence administrator victimization ecological model student, parent, colleague violence cultural pluralism |
| title | Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_full | Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_fullStr | Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_short | Violence Against Administrators: The Roles of Student, School, and Community Strengths and Cultural Pluralism |
| title_sort | violence against administrators the roles of student school and community strengths and cultural pluralism |
| topic | school violence administrator victimization ecological model student, parent, colleague violence cultural pluralism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/556 |
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