Effects of teacher avoidance of school policies on student victimization

The present study examines relations between school policy, teacher responses to violence and students' victimization outcomes as reported by teachers in a nationally representative sample of schools in Israel. Data were analysed using Structural Equations Modeling for the full sample of teachers, as well as group comparisons by school level, gender and ethnic groups. Across all models, violence prevention as a school priority was significantly related to less staff/ teacher avoidance of dealing with violence. In turn, teacher avoidance of student violence related strongly to elevated rates of reported student victimization. The findings indicate that School Violence Prevention (as a policy on its own), does not necessarily translate to less student victimization. It is through the indirect impact on staff/teacher response that student victimization was less likely. This study highlights the importance of school policy in its relation to teachers' actions and student behaviour.