The Status of School Discipline and Violence

Abstract

This article examines school discipline and violence. First, a distinction is made between different notions of violence. Clarity is brought to the concept of discipline, and an attempt is also made to demonstrate how these concepts of violence and discipline are wed. Second, the article traces approximately four decades of school disciplinary techniques and attempts to explain their growth and decline. The techniques range from corporal punishment of the past to the medicalization of disruptive youths in the present. Third, the conflict resolution and peaceable school movements are surveyed. Fourth, the findings from a number of studies are reviewed to provide a synthesis of the current research and lay the basis for a set of recommendations for constructing orderly school environments and reducing violence.