Teachers’ Safety and Workplace Victimization: A Socioecological Analysis of Teachers’ Perspective

ABSTRACT School violence research has broadly overlooked violence directed at teachers. Despite recent growing acknowledgment of teachers’ workplace victimization and concerns regarding the potential costs of the problem worldwide, teachers’ perceptions of safety and risk of workplace victimization have not been sufficiently studied. To fill this gap, this study employed a socioecological approach using qualitative measures to study teachers’ perceptions of risk and protective factors associated with workplace victimization and safety. Thirty-six in-depth interviews with teachers revealed antecedents of workplace victimization and safety both inside and outside the school setting at the individual, organizational, communal, and societal levels. We highlight practice guidelines involving teachers, students, parents, school social and organizational climates, policy, and societal norms.