Rate of Parental Violence Up to Four Times Higher Among Adolescents with School Violence Experience
"Overlapping Perpetrator-Victim" Group Shows Especially Concerning Risk
A recent study has found that 3 out of 10 adolescents who have experienced school violence have committed verbal or physical violence against their parents. As it becomes evident that violence and frustration experienced at school can lead to domestic violence, there are growing calls for social support and intervention beyond the individual level.
On December 25, Yonhap News, citing the education sector, reported that a research team led by Shin Naeun, Kang Hyunji, and Kim Yohan at Yonsei University published these findings in their paper "The Impact of School Violence Experience on Adolescent Violence Toward Parents," featured in Volume 36, Issue 4 of the Korean Journal of Youth Studies.
The research team conducted a survey of 1,552 adolescents aged 13 to 18. According to the results, 495 respondents, or 31.9% of the total, reported having experienced school violence. Among them, the largest group was those who had both perpetrated and suffered from school violence, accounting for 17.1% (265 individuals). Those who had only experienced victimization made up 9.7% (151 individuals), and those who had only perpetrated violence accounted for 5.1% (79 individuals).
Notably, the study found a clear correlation between experiencing school violence and increased aggression toward parents. Among adolescents who had experienced school violence, 30.1% said they had committed violence against their parents, more than three times the rate of those with no such experience (9.4%).
In particular, the rate of parental violence among the group with both perpetrator and victim experiences was 38.9%, nearly four times higher than that of the group with no school violence experience. Among those who had only experienced victimization, 21.9% reported violence against parents, while 16.5% of those who had only perpetrated violence reported the same.
Verbal abuse was the most common form of violence directed at parents. Of the 1,552 parents surveyed, 16.0% (248 individuals) reported having experienced violence from their children, with "harsh language or swearing" being the most frequent at 11.9%. This was followed by property damage (6.1%), forceful shoving (5.7%), throwing objects (4.8%), and physical attacks such as punching or kicking (3.7%).
The research team analyzed that "adolescents who have both perpetrated and suffered from school violence are likely to transfer their unresolved pain and frustration to their parents, who are relatively safe and close targets."
They further emphasized, "Those with both perpetrator and victim experiences should be recognized as a separate high-risk group, and interventions for school violence should not be limited to the individual student but should be expanded to include support systems for families, including parents."
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