School Principal Mistreatment of Teachers

Abstract This article, the first empirical study of its kind, presents findings from a larger qualitative study of principal mistreatment of teachers. A grounded theory method was used to study a sample of 50 U.S. teachers who were subjected to long-term mistreatment from school principals. The authors discuss descriptive and conceptual findings about principals' actions that, over the long term, teachers define as mistreatment/abuse. In addition, this article briefly describes some of the harmful effects of principal mistreatment/abuse on teachers, psychologically/emotionally and physically/physiologically. Implications of study findings for further research are discussed.