SECTION FOUR
2.4 Theoretical perspectives of violent behaviour
2.4.4 Social Disorganisation Theory
in authority. Thus the delinquent child trades off the disapproval of teachers for the approval of peers.
delinquency however are transmitted through successive generations (Shaw and McKay, 1942).
2.4.5 Concluding comments on theoretical perspectives
This chapter has detailed how violence in schools has shifted from being politically motivated to a range of other pressures being experienced by the youth of our country.
The use of several social theories captures the mood and complexity of what triggers violence in schools. Within schools, the interaction between learners and teachers is seen as a social process that has to be understood within a social context. Since the focus of this study is on violence against teachers, the intention is used highlight what is causing a breakdown in teacher-learner interactions within the school environment.
With the passage of time, very little seems to have changed as far as violence as an issue is concerned. In spite of knowledge levels of society increasing due to research, education and personal experiences, the same issues prevail regarding antisocial behaviour. Is this an innate feature of society? This study highlights that although the issue of violence has not changed, the focus of manifestation has evolved.
The literature review has traced the flow of violence as having more than one source.
Violence is a complex phenomenon in South Africa that cannot be dismissed through simplistic explanations. It has to be seen within and beyond the context of the transformations that have been taking place in a post apartheid South Africa. To present a comprehensive coverage of violence against teachers, the following has been discussed in this chapter:
o The history of violence in South African schools provided a context to understand how past causes of violence have evolved into new stresses that further perpetuate violence.
o Transformations in post apartheid South Africa is linked to unfulfilled expectations that influence violence levels through changing value systems.
o A global perspective of the causes of violence in schools forms the basis for the categories of analysis used in chapter four.
o Review of reports/studies of violence against teachers provided a basis to analyse the impact of violence on teachers in the narrative stories located in chapter six.
o Legislation and policies that prevent and support teachers against violence in schools.
o Theories that attempt to explain violent behaviour.
It was interesting to note that internationally, research on violence in schools by far supercedes that which had been conducted in South Africa, in spite of violence being continually highlighted as a major problem that is hindering teaching and learning.
There is also an imbalance in the type of research that has been conducted on violence in South African schools. The focus has only been on learners and the causes of violence. There is barely a trickle of information on violence against teachers, with a few studies addressing it as a side issue and dismissing it superficially in a short paragraph.
This study hopes to fill this gap by exploring in detail the causes and impact of violence against teachers. The methodology chapter that follows unfolds the tools and procedures used to gather data in this regard.
Chapter Three
Research Methodology
Lifting the lid:
Assimilating facts, fiction and feelings
"Through an inquirer's observation of nature, 'independent of mind',
can truths be ascertained"
(Guba, 1990)
Orientation to Chapter Three
This chapter focuses on the methodology used to assimilate facts, fiction and feelihgs in this research study. The emphasis is on embracing multiple ways of seeing the world, so that authenticity can be obtained. The combined use of the quantitative and qualitative methodologies provide the researcher with an opportunity to understand the numerical data, and helps to situate it within a wider social, political and cultural context through experiences and perceptions of the teacher's world.
'Facts' refers mainly to information gathered from empirical data, but does not exclude unbiased and irrefutable data gathered from other sources. The word 'fiction' is not used in the context of revealing untruths but rather to acknowledge that the telling of stories may lend itself to exaggeration and be coloured by emotion (feelings). But, in spite of this, it still reveals the truth. It is a truth that we have to understand through interpretation contexts that shape their creation and the world views that inform them.
This understanding is placed into context by Riessman (1993), citing the Personal Narratives Group when he states that the truths we.see in Personal Narratives jar us from our complacent security as interpreters 'outside' the story and makes us aware that our own place in the world plays
a
part in our interpretation and shapes the meaning we derive from them. This line of thinking is further supported by Derrida(1976) who stated that there can never be a clear, unambiguous statementofanything including an intention or
a
meaning.Clarifying the researcher's understanding of 'truth' at the onset, signals
a
critical eye being turned to one's own prejudices and distortions. Having highlighted the above this chapter unfolds the research methodology used to answer the critical question ofthis study, which is:IIWhat is the nature and extentof violence against teachers?"
This process involved probing into the everyday world of teachers. The information generated from the data collection process was used to draw insights on the nature and extent of violence against teachers. The processes involved in the research methodology are revealed in the following sections.
Goinginto the field
Data collection
Data analysis
Section One outlines the two broad methodological approaches that were used ina
complementary manner.
Section Two details the participants and procedures that were used to gather data.
Section Three provides