Socially Constructed School Violence: Lessons from the Field

Socially Constructed School Violence: Lessons from the Field argues that the way we understand what constitutes violence is socially constructed, and that people from different social locations, that is, gender, race, social class, geographic location, and so on, will have varied perspectives on what is violent. Based on ethnographic work at an urban alternative school for students expelled for bringing weapons to school and an affluent suburban school eighteen miles away, this book describes various ways violence can be constructed. Specifically, this book discusses personal and structural forms of violence that students, teachers, administrators, and other school staff encounter. Using powerful examples from the ethnographic analysis, this book describes some of the valuable lessons learned about how we can work to prevent school violence.