Student verbal aggression toward teachers: How do behavioral patterns unfold?

Abstract

The prevalence of verbal aggression in schools is well documented; however, most of this research focuses on verbal aggression between students. Examination of student verbal aggression toward teachers is limited. This qualitative investigation explores events that frequently precede and follow student verbal aggression toward teachers using an antecedent-behavior-consequence (A-B-C) framework. Method: The sample includes 98 prekindergarten through 12 th -grade teachers who experienced verbal aggression from a student and identified an antecedent and consequence of the incident. Conventional content analysis was conducted to identify common types of verbal aggression, antecedents, consequences, and A-B-C patterns among teacher-directed verbal aggression incidents perpetrated by students. Results: Findings reveal threats were the most common type of verbal aggression and varied across developmental level, with high school teachers reporting more threats than elementary teachers. In terms of A-B-C patterns, student verbal aggression was precipitated by disciplinary action; the aggression then led to the student's removal from the classroom or school, school staff becoming involved, or a positive outcome (e.g., an apology or a service provision). Teacher directives (e.g., requesting a student to sit down or complete classwork) led to verbal aggression, resulting in administrative inaction. Finally, academic performance-related situations (e.g., grades) led to verbal aggression followed by student removal. Conclusions: Common antecedents, consequences, and patterns suggest strategies for preventing and addressing verbal aggression, such as training for teachers and administrators, effective classroom rules, facilitation of student engagement, and improved discipline policies and practices.

Physical aggression toward teachers: Antecedents, behaviors, and consequences

“…While the prevalence of violence against teachers has been studied (e.g., McMahon et al, ; Musu‐Gillette et al, ; Reddy et al, ), this study is one of few examining antecedents and consequences of aggression toward teachers to understand how these events unfold from a teacher's perspective. The A‐B‐C framework offers insights to better understand physical aggression in schools, establish methods to prevent aggression, and intervene effectively when it does occur (McMahon et al, ).…”

“…In this study, this approach was modified to understand events that led up to and followed teachers’ reported experiences of physical aggression. A similar approach was used to understand the antecedents and consequences of verbal aggression toward teachers (McMahon et al, ).…”

Addressing violence against teachers: A social‐ecological analysis of teachers' perspectives

“…The survey was developed by the APA Task Force to assess the extent and nature of teacher‐directed violence, including verbal and physical offenses, harassment, and property offenses across different types of perpetrators (e.g., students, parents, and colleagues), and attributions regarding violence they experienced (e.g., Anderman et al, 2018; McMahon et al, 2014; McMahon, Davis, et al, 2020; McMahon, Peist, et al, 2020). The current study explored a subset of responses to four open‐ended prompts about the most upsetting violent incident participants experienced.…”

“…In the context of describing their experiences with violence across these four prompts, and especially in response to the fourth prompt seeking additional information, teachers provided recommendations about how to avoid or address school violence; these excerpts provided the basis for the current study. In‐depth qualitative analysis of victimization experiences are presented elsewhere (e.g., McMahon et al, 2017; McMahon, Davis, et al, 2020; McMahon, Peist, et al, 2020).…”

How Students’ Big Five personality traits manifest in perceived social loafing behavior

“…Personality analysis relies on judgments of observers being largely defined by interpersonal behavior (Kaurin, Sauerberger, & Funder, 2018). Behavioral expressions are linked to personality traits; according to the Antecedent‐Behavior‐Consequence (ABC) Model where personality triggers the manifestation of various behavioral patterns (McMahon et al., 2019).…”