School Violence: A Multi-Level Perspective

Abstract

School violence has been a recurring theme in the Swedish media over the last decade. Unfortunately research on this subject has been scarce and the media picture has therefore often been accepted uncritically. This article presents an overview of what is known about school violence in Sweden. Using a contextual approach it is also investigated to what extent individual level characteristics and features of the school context account for the risk of victimization. On the whole it is found that in schools where social capital, e.g. family and community resources, is low, violence tends to be higher, especially among students with low self-esteem and weak school involvement.