Highlights Interaction Competencies with Children prevents maltreatment in institutional care. Feasibility of intervention despite low resources and heterogeneity of institutions. Participation in intervention significantly reduced maltreatment of orphans. Positive attitudes towards violence declined through intervention participation. Participation in intervention significantly increased childcare knowledge.

Background Violence has severe and long-lasting negative consequences for children’s and adolescents’ well-being and psychosocial functioning, thereby also hampering communities’ and societies’ economic growth. Positive attitudes towards violence and the lack of access to alternative non-violent strategies are likely to contribute to the high levels of teachers’ ongoing use of violence against children in sub-Saharan African countries. Notwithstanding, there are currently very few school-level interventions to reduce violence by teachers that a) have been scientifically evaluated and b) that focus both on changing attitudes towards violence and on equipping teachers with non-violent discipline strategies. Thus, the present study tests the effectiveness of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers (ICC-T) in primary and secondary schools in Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana. Methods The study is a multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial with schools (clusters) as level of randomization and three data assessment points: baseline assessment prior to the intervention, the first follow-up assessment 6 months after the intervention and the second follow-up assessment 18 months after the intervention. Multi-stage random sampling will be applied to select a total number of 72 schools (24 per country). Schools will be randomly allocated to the intervention and the control condition after baseline. At each school, 40 students (stratified by gender) in the third year of primary school or in the first year of secondary/junior high school and all teachers (expected average number: 20) will be recruited. Thus, the final sample will comprise 2880 students and at least 1440 teachers. Data will be collected using structured clinical interviews. Primary outcome measures are student- and teacher-reported physical and emotional violence by teachers in the past week. Secondary outcome measures include children’s emotional and behavioral problems, quality of life, cognitive functioning, academic performance, school attendance and social competence. Data will be analyzed using multilevel analyses. Discussion This study aims to provide further evidence for the effectiveness of ICC-T to reduce teacher violence and to improve children’s functioning (i.e., mental health, well-being, academic performance) across educational settings, societies and cultures. Trial registration The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.org under the ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04948580 on July 2, 2021.

There is increasing evidence for the deleterious impact of emotional violence on children`s well-being and development. This systematic review focused on a) the prevalence and (b) correlates of emotional violence by teachers. A literature search of quantitative and peer-reviewed studies published in English between 1980 and April 2021 was conducted. Eighty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies represented all geographical regions of the world, were predominantly cross-sectional and of moderate quality. Studies were heterogeneous in terms of their samples, conceptualization, and measurement of emotional violence. Results indicated that emotional violence by teachers is prevalent across cultural settings, although large variations within and between regions are noted. It is related to mental health, behavioral and academic problems of children above and beyond physical violence by teachers and victimization by peers and parents. Boys are at higher risk of experiencing emotional violence by teachers than girls. Family dysfunction, low socioeconomic status (of the family or the community), and violent school environments appear to increase risk as well. The observed patterns of co-occurrence of emotional violence with physical violence by teachers and victimization by peers as well as perpetration of violence against peers and teachers lend support to notions of poly-victimization and cycles of violence in the school settings. Future research should use representative surveys, examine antecedents, and consequences of emotional violence by teachers using longitudinal and experimental designs and evaluate interventions to prevent emotional violence by teachers.

Background: High rates of maltreatment and low caregiving quality in institutional care settings have been identified in various low-and middle-income countries. Many studies have focused on children living in institutions. Objective: This study investigates the prevalence of maltreatment, caregiver-specific, orphanage-context factors, and their relation to maltreatment of orphans from the caregivers’ perspective. Participants and setting: In this cross-sectional study, 227 caregivers (67% female) with a mean age of 36.84 years ( SD age = 12.89) of 24 childcare centres in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania participated. Methods: The primary outcome was the maltreatment of children assessed through structured interviews of caregivers. Further information on individual (like work-related stress) and structural variables (working conditions) was gathered. Results: Caregivers’ work under extreme and exhausting conditions, with very high caregiver-child ratios, low salaries, and almost no possibility to recover. Results also showed significant differences in the maltreatment level and structural and individual factors (e.g., payment and days of entitlement) between the orphanages. Caregiver’s positive attitudes towards violence ( ƒ2attitudes = 0.19) and difficulties in the relationship with children ( ƒ2relationship = 0.05) significantly predicted maltreatment with moderate and small effects. Conclusions: The overall poor working conditions highlight the urgent need to reduce the caregivers’ burden. In addition to this, addressing caregivers’ positive attitudes and improving their interaction competencies with children may be a starting point to prevent maltreatment of children. Further investigation of structural factors contributing to maltreatment is essential to develop recommendations for the improvement and re-organization of childcare institutions.

Violence against children is a global problem and has massive negative consequences for individuals and society. In many countries violence in education is socially accepted and widespread. Violence against children has multiple individual and societal causes and maintaining factors. Even in schools, children are frequently exposed to violence, which speaks to the need for school-based preventative approaches. The target group for preventative interventions should primarily be the individuals perpetrating the violence – in this context: teachers. The causal factors should be addressed comprehensively while accounting for the scarcity of resources in these contexts. This overview describes and discusses the preventative intervention <i>Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers</i> and its mechanisms of change. The intervention is a 5.5-day training workshop for teachers in societies where violent discipline is accepted. The aim of the intervention is a behaviour change in teachers. A central component is the dynamic of the intervention, which enables a readiness in teachers to change their behaviour, improving teachers’ competence, and increasing their motivation to act. Further, the intervention operates on different levels in that it addresses normative aspects at the school system level as well as individual factors. How different methods and topics operate and interact at the individual and school levels should be addressed through future evaluations of the process of behaviour change.