Violence in primary schools in Serbia: Forms and prevalence

Abstract

A questionnaire study of 26,228 pupils of grades 3 through 8 in 50 primary schools across Serbia, conducted in spring 2006, indicated that in a three-month period, 65.3% of the pupils stated that they experienced some form of peer violence (the percentage varies by school, between 48% and 80%). An analysis of repeated violence cases identifies 20.7% of the pupils as victims, 3.8% as perpetrators of violence, and 3.6% as victims/perpetrators. Adult violence is reported by 35.7% of the pupils, while 42% have witnessed verbal aggression of pupils towards teachers. The most frequent forms of peer violence reported were insults (45.6%) and plotting (32.6%). Boys declared themselves as perpetrators of violence somewhat more frequently than girls, and they were somewhat more often exposed to peer and adult violence. Older pupils were more frequently violent and more often reported adult violence, while age differences in exposure to violence were minimal. .