This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Survey results on violence against school staff
30/01/2003
The results of the survey on incidents of violence and
anti-social behaviour against local authority school staff in
2001/02 are published today.
Violence and anti-social behaviour, in this context, is
categorised as physical violence, verbal abuse or intentional
damage to personal property, and includes threatening behaviour
with or without a weapon.
The information collected refers to the number of separate
incidents reported, rather than the number of individual
members of staff involved in at least one incident during the
year.
The main findings are:
- During 2001/02, the total number of incidents reported
against local authority school staff (both teaching and
non-teaching) was 5,412
- 37 per cent of these incidents occurred within the
primary sector, 30 per cent in the secondary sector, 32 per
cent in the special sector and, two per cent in pre-school
centres of education
- Two thirds of the incidents reported involved teaching
staff. There were 64 incidents against teaching staff per
1,000 teachers
- 237 incidents (around four per cent of the total) were
notified to the police.
- 98 per cent of incidents were recorded as occurring in
school hours, with 50 per cent taking place in the
classroom
- 44 per cent of the incidents reported involved physical
violence alone. 26 percent involved both physical violence
and verbal abuse, and 29 per cent involved verbal abuse
alone.
- Less than one per cent of incidents were reported as
racially motivated, with a similar number sexually
motivated
- In 94 per cent of all incidents reported, the
perpetrator was a current pupil of the school. This is a
rate of six incidents per 1,000 pupils. Where this
information was available, 60 per cent of these incidents
involved pupils with special educational needs (SEN).
- In four per cent of all incidents, the perpetrator was
recorded as a parent.
- On average there were five working days lost per 1,000
staff as a direct result of the incidents reported in
2001/02.
In June 1997, the then Scottish Office issued a circular (No
5/97) to local authorities in Scotland, informing them of a
formal requirement to report, record and monitor incidents of
violence against school staff. In circular 5/97, an incident of
violence was defined as:
"any incident in which any employee of a school is seriously
abused, is threatened or is assaulted by a pupil, parent,
member of the public or any other persons in circumstances
arising out of the course of his/her employment. This includes
physical attack and threatening behaviour with or without a
weapon, and intentional damage to personal property".
This reflects the fact that violence is not restricted to
acts of aggression that may result in physical harm but
incorporates behaviour, including the use of gestures and
language, that may cause the victim to become afraid or feel
threatened or abused.
The Scottish Office collected and collated information from
local authorities for the first time in 1998, and subsequently
as the Scottish Executive again in each August since.
2. It should be noted that:
- This is the fourth year that the survey has been
completed by all authorities. The numbers of incidents
reported in the past four years have been:
1998/1999
1,898
1999/2000
3,083
2000/2001
4,501
2001/2002
5,412
However, it is not necessarily valid to make comparisons
between these annual totals, since the reporting procedures
within local authorities are still bedding in. Several local
authorities have indicated that they view increases in 2001/02
as largely due to improved reporting procedures, recent
training, and greater emphasis placed by authorities and unions
on the importance of reporting incidents, rather than
representing 'real' increases.
As with all such surveys, there may be an element of under
reporting within the overall figures. This factor is expected
to diminish with time as the incident reporting procedure
becomes more firmly established within each local
authority.
School staff may have different responses to incidents, and
despite the definition, what one member of staff may report as
a violent incident, another may choose not to report.
In reporting the summary information for 2001/02, there was
no requirement for local authorities to record separately those
incidents that involved multiple acts of violence by the same
perpetrator, or where more than one member of staff was
involved. Similarly, incidents perpetrated by more than one
person are not recorded separately.
Where an incident was notified to the police, this does not
imply that this incident was recorded as a crime by them.
A pupil with SEN is any pupil with special educational needs
who has a Record of Needs, or any other identified special
educational needs (including undergoing assessment for possible
recording). Note that this categorisation, for the purposes of
this survey, is made largely at the discretion of the
school.
Each local authority has established its own system for
collecting information about violent incidents from its
schools, based on guidelines issued by the Scottish Executive.
While work is ongoing to increase consistency in reporting,
some of these systems have proved to be more sensitive than
others in recording the number of incidents that have taken
place. Separate breakdowns of results are therefore not
available for individual local authorities due to the different
reporting systems used. Figures from different local
authorities are not generally comparable.
This is a National Statistics publication.
National Statistics are produced to high professional standards
set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They
undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they
meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political
interference.