Changes in Antisocial Behaviour in the Classroom and the Impact on Students, in Spain

Abstract

The aim of this study is to know teachers’ opinions on antisocial behaviour in the classroom and its effect on pupils. Our sample was made up of 493 secondary and primary school teachers in the Valencia Community (Spain), and the research instrument was a questionnaire elaborated by the Values, Violence and Education Interdisciplinary Research Group of the University of Alicante. The data was put on the group’s online platform, and analysed using the programme SPSS v.21. The different types of antisocial behaviour highlighted by teachers were social exclusion, physical aggression and addictions, and also, but with less frequency, vandalism, insults and xenophobia. Emotional problems and a bad learning environment are the main consequences of these behaviours. Our study comes to the conclusion that there is a direct relationship between different types of school violence and pupils’ negative behaviour. Thus, programmes of prevention must be developed with the aim of reducing risk factors, solving conflicts and educating pupils in specific social skills.