Background: Most health and developmental issues affecting young people are interrelated. However, few interventions address multiple behavioral domains simultaneously or are based on theories that encompass a holistic perspective of youth development. Aim: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and describe the range of theory-based,…

Violence, crime, and abuse against learners present a grave picture of problems in South African schools and are on the increase, as substantiated in articles. daily newspapers and news bulletins. The problem of violence is a complex one, and has been elevated to a national concern. The study was based on the perceptions and experiences of school…

Various scholars have confirmed that teacher safety against learner victimization is a growing concern worldwide, and this problem is exacerbated by a lack of understanding and readiness to implement policies to address this matter. In this regard, policy implementation by middle leaders (MLs) in creating safe school environments has attracted…

Gangs and gang violence continue to be serious challenges throughout South Africa, but especially in cities such as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. In the northern areas of Port Elizabeth, hardly a day goes by without at least 1 report in the local news media about gang-related incidents. Most of the gangs in the northern areas have organised and…

Students' challenging behaviour is a persisting problem in some primary schools. In South African primary schools, however, students' challenging behaviour is mainly understood as disruptive classroom behaviour. To establish how primary schools experience this phenomenon, interviews were held with twenty-one participants, purposively selected from…

Teacher morale affects all aspects of the school and education system. Yet, the current status of teaching does not provide a rosy picture as teachers are reported to be demoralized and stressed. This qualitative study explored teachers' experiences that influence their morale. The study was guided by the research question: How do workplace…

The rise of violent incidents in South African schools has sparked widespread concern. Most studies on school violence focus on the experiences of learners; little attention has been paid to educators' experiences. As a result, violence against educators is both underreported and understudied. The research question prompting this study was: What…

Following a suggestion by Crosthwaite (2005) that autobiographical narratives can be viewed as organizational practices, this article turns attention to events of recalling and articulating personal histories of trauma produced during and after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings of 1996-8. Witness testimonies at…

This study aimed to explore barriers to implementing peace education in secondary schools in South Africa. The empirical inquiry employed qualitative research methodology and evaluation research design to examine the implementation of a peace education programme in three selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Purposive…

The dominant 'heterosexual script' positions men as sexually desiring subjects who initiate sex and use active displays of power to attract women, and women as passive sexual objects who use indirect means to attract men (e.g. physical appearance). While much research has highlighted how this script is deployed in high school settings, less work…

Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the greatest social issues affecting South Africa, and universities are no exception. This article reports preliminary results of a pilot study conducted at the University of South Africa (Unisa). The study aimed to ascertain perceptions of GBV among university staff. A range of frequency-seeking questions…

In this paper, we contribute to the understandings of young masculinities by turning attention to the South African schooling primary school context. In the context of scarcity of interventions around violence in the primary school, we focus on how young boys construct, negotiate and experience violence. Notwithstanding dominant discourses around…

Safety in and around schools is an on-going concern in South Africa. Current education policy related to school safety institutes mechanisms to reduce violence as a measure of promoting safety. The highest rate of violence reported by learners occurs in the classroom. By implication, how teachers are either enabled or constrained to respond to…

Violence and bullying in schools keep escalating and have become a world-wide problem -- also in South Africa. This problem is continuing unabated, despite the different intervention strategies in place. Intervention strategies include the Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) programme, the National School Safety Framework (NSSF), the Safe Schools…

School violence has been on the increase over the past few years, despite several interventions put in place by school management, the Department of Education and parents. Nonetheless, school violence remains a debilitating factor to safe and secure schools. It is within this context that this paper examines the participation of Representative…