Violence in schools and public policies

This book contains nine major contributions that were presented at the first world conference Violence in Schools and Public Policies, organised in Paris in March 2001 by the European Observatory of School violence, with the help of the French Ministry of Education and the European Commission (Comenius - Socrates). These synthesising texts give the most recent account of top-level international research into a subject which is a matter of concern for all the major democracies in the world. They are thus of considerable interest to researchers, but their purpose is also to elucidate, and sometimes criticise, public action. In this era of worry and occasional demagogic outrage about the issue of "the violence of youth", people in the field and political leaders will find first-hand knowledge that is not concerned with political correctness. Prevention and training, bullying and micro-violence, the security market and the reality of victimisation, epistemological and ethical problems: all these matters are addressed here through scrupulously conducted research.