Campus Violence: Causes and Remedies

Educators and policy makers have been grappling with the issue of violence
in campuses for decades, .Educators, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers,
political scientists, anthropologists, and sociologists have all weighed in on the
possible causes. Sifting through the theories can be overwhelming, and
implementing effective violence prevention programs is often frustrating. No
wonder, then, that teachers and administrators often feel defeated when they
confront the dangerously aggressive behavior of some pupils. According to a
federal survey. Seventy-one percent of all public elementary and secondary
campuses reported at least one violent incident during the 1-!""# campus
years.
$ampus %iolence has been a public concern and a cause for national an&iety
since 1'#. (arring stray incidences, campus violence was not e&perienced during
the (ritish period, though even then all ma)or political parties had their supporting
student fronts and though communal violence was then e&tremely high. *ntil 1+',
the politically active part of the student community was committed to political
,uestions like anti-colonial movements, flanked by -ndian nationalism on the one
hand, and .akistan nationalism on the other. /he nationalist spirit was replaced by
the regional spirit during the .akistan period. %arious student organisations then
rendered support to political parties in their struggles for regional autonomy and
democratic rights.
%iolent behavior and the intent to act violently are potential symptoms of
numerous psychiatric disorders. $onduct 0isorder, a state of persistent disregard
for social conventions and rules and manifesting as criminal and antisocial
behavior before the age of 11, is perhaps the most fre,uently mentioned diagnosis
among violent youth. -n addition substance abuse and dependence can contribute
substantially to violent acts, either by reducing inhibitions among otherwise
nonviolent students or by creating a climate through drug transactions in which
violence is central. 2ore rarely, impulsive behavior found in conditions such as
Attention 0eficit 3yperactive 0isorder can lead to violent outbursts. 4inally,
diagnoses such as 5ppositional 0efiant 0isorder, Antisocial .ersonality 0isorder,
and a range of psychotic disorders have been associated with the development of
violent behavior among youth.
-n addition to certain psychiatric diagnoses, characteristics such as low
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verbal -6, immature moral reasoning, poor parental modeling, poor social skills,
and lack of social supports have all been associated with the development of
violent behavior in children. Studies e&amining characteristics particular to the
campus environment have found that a weakly structured campus and a student7s
poor academic performance, low commitment to education, and, perhaps most
important, poor attachment to the campus are all strong indicators of potential
violence. -n addition, campuses that tolerate physical and social aggression,
especially when perpetrated by elite student groups within the campus are
increasingly at risk for the outbreak of violence on or around campus grounds.
/hese characteristics alone are not sufficient to predict the occurrence of violence.
$ampus violence in (angladesh may be traced back to 253A22A0 A8*(
93AN regime when a government sponsored student organisation, National
Students 4ederation :NS4;, was let loose to s,uash student movements for regional
autonomy and democracy in favour of the Ayubean system of (AS-$
0E25$<A$-ES. NS4 cadres established a reign of terror in all campuses of East
.akistan, especially in the *N-%E<S-/8 54 03A9A. /he first notable victim of the
politics of terror was a NS4 leader of 0haka *niversity, Saidur <ahman alias
.anch .attur. 3e was killed in 1=1. An earlier recorded killing had taken place in
1+! when Na>ir Ahmed, a student leader of 0haka *niversity, was killed in a
communal fren>y. $ompared to the violence record in American campuses during
the same period, the murder of two students in ?! years of e&istence of the
university is indicative of the relatively better campus situation than most
American campuses.
(ut the scene changed after 1'#. @ith the end of .akistani rule, the return
of student activists from war fronts, and the sharp polarisation of students
ideologically and politically, campuses became hot-beds of conflicts and scenes of
violence. /he Student Aeague, a student organisation in the vanguard of the @A<
54 A-(E<A/-5N , got embroiled in in-fighting over after-war ideologies and
interests. 5ne conse,uence of the development was the ghastly seven-murder
incidence at 2ohsin 3all of 0haka *niversity on + April, 1'+. Since then, the
politics of violence on campuses have continued unabated. $ampus violence
became so rampant that in course of the regimes of B-A*< <A32AN and 3*SSA-N
2*3A22A0 E<S3A0, it drew world attention. -n 1#, for e&ample, The New York
Times identified the 0haka *niversity as the 7most violent campus in the world7.
Akhil .oddar7s survey :$ampus %iolence in three 0ecades; published in the Daily
Janakantha :+ 2ay !""1; shows the causalities of campus violence in three
decades since 1'+ thusC murders 1!1, seriously wounded +!". $ampus-wise
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distribution of casualties isC 0haka *niversity '!, <a)shahi *niversity !?,
$hittagong *niversity 11, (angladesh Agricultural *niversity 1, -slami *niversity
:9ushtia; ', and Dahangirnagar *niversity ?.
$linicians and campus officials must pay special attention to potential
motives for and means of committing violence. /hey must be willing to discuss
provocative and threatening )ournal writing and art pro)ects with students and with
designated campus authorities who decide what actions to take to protect the
student and the campus. Aistening to students who e&press concern about another
student7s behavior is particularly important. -gnoring violent behavior or wanting to
let Esomeone elseE deal with the problem is a normal parental reaction. 0iscussing
with your child ways to protect themselves is not EscaringE them unnecessarily, but
is e,uipping your child to not be a victim. /here are things you can do to help your
child if the unthinkable does occur. Studies of e&tremely violent behavior in
campuses have found that those who commit high-profile acts of violence have
almost always made their intentions known to peers through direct or indirect
communications. Educators must foster a setting in which students are comfortable
making their concerns known to teachers and peers. -nterventions both to curb and
to address student violence must be multifaceted. Serious psychiatric disorders
indicate the need for counseling and possibly medication. /he treatment plan must
integrate legal considerations.
-f murder, wounding and e&torting have been the most e&treme forms of
campus violence since 1'+, in recent years, violence on female students has given
a new dimension to campus violence. <ape, kidnapping, teasing and forced
marriages are now on the list of incidents associated with campus violence. Among
the less horrifying acts of violence are occupation by force of a hall of residence by
a student party or group, ousting rival residents of a hall from their seats, forcing
other bonafide residents to share their seats with their cronies, and compelling
them to )oin party processions and movements.
/hough campus violence is planned by leading student activists, its actual
e&ecution is carried out by their armed cadres who carry with them clandestinely,
but sometimes very openly, weapons such as home-made bombs and crackers,
knives, daggers and fire arms. /hey are not necessarily students. 2ost of them are
recruited at a price from school dropouts, slump dwellers and broken families.
/hey are trained in making and to throw bombs at targets, and in use of firearms.
/here are reasons to believe that student organisations differ from each other not
only in political beliefs and practices, but also in methods of perpetrating campus
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violence. -f one party is prone to throwing bombs at targets, another to use of
firearms, and still another to maiming victims. /he long term trends of campus
violence clearly indicate that ruling party students have been predominantly using
firearms, the mainstream opposition students have been resorting to bomb-
throwing, and an ideologically charged third group have been using both
sophisticated fire-arms to dispirit police and opponents on the one hand, and knives
and daggers to scare off their enemies by cutting their tendons and ligaments, on
the other.
<ecent innovative approaches show promise for addressing violent behavior
in campuses. 5ne of them is 2ulti systemic /reatment, which involves multiple
and active interventions for young people who commit violence, has attracted
increasing attention during the past decade. $ampuses are an important setting for
addressing violent youth, and the e&tent to which students feel attached to their
campus has direct bearing on the likelihood of later and ongoing violence.
$ampuses, therefore, are a necessary part of the complicated e,uation that will
ultimately make learning and development safer and more rewarding for everyone.
/he methods and forms of campus violence are seen to have undergone
fundamental changes. -n the 1'"s and early 11"s, the politics and ideologies of
the time characterised campus violence. -n the late 11"s, campus violence began
to show symptoms of ordinary criminality like kidnapping for ransom, toll
collection, influencing the administration at gun-point, rape, occupying halls of
residence, tender-business and so on. -n the 1"s, these sort of violence seem to
have been firmly established. 5ne reason for such a turn of events is certainly the
lack of good governance. /he most violent elements on the campuses, according to
newspaper reports, are the student groups and factions sheltered by the ruling party
leadership. -n spite of the election system, the chief e&ecutives of the campuses are
appointed with the blessings and support of the ruling party, and hence, they can
hardly proceed to take strong action against the cadres of the party. $ampus
violence is also indirectly associated with the system of education and campus
management.
Reference
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1. $ampus violence. Dournal of the American Academy of $hild and
Adolescent .sychiatry, +":#;, #''-#'
!. httpCFFwww.haworthpressinc.comFstoreFproduct.aspGskuH"1##
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