Abstract
In this chapter we will set the historical scene for school violence and behaviour management discourses in Finland, starting from the time of the basic education reforms between 1960 and 1980 to this day. Moreover, we will develop our critical social scientific approach to school violence as a research topic and social problem and apply this methodology to the school context, in order to vision what kind of critical questions one should ask when trying to understand different forms of violence in the school institution. We argue that instead of demonizing aggression and conflicts, there should be pedagogic ways of working with these issues.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
There is wide scientific and political critique of zero tolerance in the United States published by academic circles, various citizenship rights organizations and state officials. These can be easily found by googling words such as “zero tolerance” and “zero tolerance in schools.”
- 2.
We have used the Finnish translation of the article. It has been reprinted several times after its original publication in 1969. A recent version of it is found in Bufucchi 2009. The relevant pages for this paper are 80–85.
References
Advancement Project, Padres and Jovenes Unidos & Southwest Youth Collaborative Children & Family Justice Center of Northwestern University School of Law. (2005). Education on lockdown: The schoolhouse to jailhouse track. Washington: Advancement Project.
Antikainen, A, Rinne, R., & Koski, L. (2003). Kasvatussosiologia [Educational sociology]. Helsinki: WSOY.
Ayers, W., Dohrn, B. & Ayers, R. (eds.). (2001). Zero tolerance. Resisting the drive for punishment in our schools. A handbook for parents,students, educators, and citizens. New York: The New Press.
Basic Education Act 21.8.1998/628
Bill LA 81/2016 vp.
Bjorklund, D. F. (2007). Why youth is not wasted on the young. Immaturity human development. Malden: Blackwell.
Bourdieu, P. (2001). On masculine domination. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture. (published in 1970). London/Beverly Hills: SAGE Publications.
Bourdieu, P. & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bufucchi, V. (Ed.). (2009). Violence. A philosophical anthology. New York: Palgrave.
Burchell, G., Gordon, C., & Miller, P. (Eds.). (1991). The foucault effect. studies in governmentality with two lectures by and an interview with Michel Foucault. Hemel Hampstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Children’s Defense Fund. (2007). America’s cradle-to-prison pipeline. www.childrensdefense.org.
Christie, N., & Bruun, K. (1986). Hyvä vihollinen. Huumausainepolitiikka Pohjolassa [Good enemy. Drugs policy in the Nordic countries]. Espoo: Weilin + Göös.
Coleman, J.C.. et al. 1966. Equality and opportunity in education. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Collins, R. (2008). Violence. A micro-sociological theory. Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Coulby, D., & Harper, T. (1985). Preventing classroom disruption. Policy, practice and evaluation in urban schools. London/Sydney/Dover: Croom Helm.
Fabelo, T., Thompson, M. D., Plotkin, M., Carmichael D., Marchbanks, M. P., III., & Booth, E. A. (2011). Breaking school rules: A statewide study of how school discipline relates to students’ success and juvenile justice involvement. New York: The Council of State Governments, Public Policy Research Institute.
Fagerström, V., Länsikallio, R., & Sipponen, J. (2015). Stop väkivallalle kouluissa ja päiväkodeissa. Väkivaltatilanteiden ilmoitus- ja käsittelylomakkeiden kehittäminen [Stop violence in schools and kindergartens. Developing formulas or documenting and managing violent episodes]. Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Foucault, M. (1984). The history of sexuality. Vol. 1. An introduction. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Fowler, D., Lightsey R., Monger, J., & Aseltine, E. (2010). Texas’ school-to-prison pipeline. Ticketing, arrest & use of force in schools. how the myth of the “blackboard jungle” reshaped school disciplinary policy. Austin: Texas Appleseed. www.texasappleseed.net.
Galtung, J. (1971). Väkivallan määritelmästä ja ulottuvuuksista [On the definition and dimensions of violence].
Goodlad, J. I. (1984). A Place called school. Prospects for the future. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Gordon, T., Holland, J., & Lahelma, E. (2000). Making spaces. Citizenship and difference in schools. Chippenham: Macmillan.
Harrikari, T. (2008). Riskillä merkityt: lapset ja nuoret huolen ja puuttumisen politiikassa [Labelled as a risk. Children and teenagers within a policy of worries and interventions] Nuorisotutkimusverkoston julkaisuja 87. Helsinki: Finnish Youth Research Society.
Hayden, C., & Martin, D. (Eds.). (2011). Crime, anti-social behaviour and schools. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Himmelweit, H. T. (1990). Societal psychology: Implications and scope. In H. T. Himmelweit & G. Gaskell (Eds.), Societal Psychology (pp. 17–45). Newbury Park: Sage.
Himmelweit, H. T. & Gaskell, G. (eds.). (1990). Societal psychology. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Holland, P. (2009). We don’t play with guns here. War, weapon and superhero play in the early years. The debating play series. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Honkatukia, P., & Suurpää, L. (2014). Armoured toughness? Multicultural group relationships and crime among young men. In I. Lander & S. Ravn (Eds.), Men, Masculinities and the Criminological Field (pp. 131–148). Farnham & Burlington: Ashgate.
Jimerson, S. H., Swearer, S. M., & Espelage, D. L. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of bullying in schools. An international perspective. New York/London: Routledge.
Julkunen, R. (2006). Kuka vastaa? Hyvinvointivaltion rajat ja julkinen vastuu? [Who is responsible? Limits of the welfare state and public responsibility]. Helsinki: Stakes National Research and Development Centre for Health and Welfare.
Komiteanmietintö. (1970). Peruskoulun opetussuunnitelmakomitean mietintö I. Helsinki: Komiteanmietintö. A 5.
Korander, T. (2014). Rikottujen ikkunoiden nollatoleranssi. Tutkimus New Yorkin rikoksentorjunnan uuskonservatiivi-mallista Suomessa [The broken window theory and the neo-conservative zero tolerance policy in Finland]. Turun yliopiston julkaisuja, Sarja – ser, C osa tom.390.
Korkeakivi, R. (2014). Lomautusten vähättely saa jo riittää. [Stop downplaying the laying off of teachers]. Opettaja magazine 34/2014: 6–7.
Kuula, R. (2000). Syrjäytymisvaarassa oleva nuori koulun paineessa. Koulu ja nuorten syrjäytyminen [The teenager in danger of marginalization. Schools and the marginalization of the youth]. Joensuun yliopiston kasvatustieteellisiä julkaisuja N:o 61, Joensuu: School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland.
Lappi-Seppälä, T. (2008). Trust, welfare, and political culture: Explaining differences in national penal policies. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (pp. 313–387). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Losen, D., Hodson, C., Keith II, M. A., Morrison, K., & Belway, S. (2015). https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/resources/projects/center-for-civil-rights-remedies/school-to-prison-folder/federal-reports/are-we-closing-the-school-discipline-gap.
Mäntylä, N. (2012). Koulukiusaaminen kiusaajan rikoksena. [Bullying as the crime of the bully] Oikeus 3/2012, pp. 357–380.
Metz, M. H. (1979). Classrooms and corridors. The crisis in authority in desegregated secondary schools. Berkeley/London: University of California Press.
Mills, C. Wright. (1990, orig. 1959). Sosiologinen mielikuvitus [The sociological imagination]. Helsinki: University Press.
Paju, P. (2011). Koulua on käytävä [School is an obligation]. Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/Nuorisotutkimusseura Julkaisuja 115.
Programme of Prime Minister Sipilä’s Government. (2015). http://valtioneuvosto.fi/documents/10184/1427398/Ratkaisujen+Suomi_EN_YHDISTETTY_netti.pdf/8d2e1a66-e24a-4073-8303-ee3127fbfcac.
Rimpelä, M., Rigoff, A-M., Kuusela, J., & Peltonen, H. (eds.) (2007). Hyvinvoinnin ja terveyden edistäminen peruskoulussa. – perusraportti kyselystä 7.-9- vuosiluokkien kouluille [Promoting Welfare and Health in the Comprehensive School. Report from a Survey in Schools for Classes 7-9]. Helsinki: Finnish National Agency for Education & Stakes National Research and Development Centre for Health and Welfare.
Sahlberg, P. (2011). Finnish lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Salmivalli, C., Kärnä, A., & Poskiparta, E. (2010). From peer putdowns to peer support: A theoretical model and how it translated into a national anti-bullying campaign. In S. R. Jimerson et al. (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 441–454). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Seppänen, P., Kalalahti, M., Rinne, R., & Simola, H. (Eds.). (2015). Lohkoutuva peruskoulu. – Perheiden kouluvalinnat, yhteiskuntaluokat ja koulutuspolitiikka [Comprehensive school in the process of social segregation. Parental choice, social classes and educational policy]. FERA, the Finnish Educational Research Association, Kasvatusalan tutkimuksia 68. Jyväskylä.
Simola, H., Kangasvuori, A., Kinnunen, K., Kolbe, L., & Pitkälä, A. (2013, June 1). Peruskoulu on vaarassa [Comprehensive School in Danger]. Puheenaihe. Aamulehti Newspaper.
Simola, H., Kauko, J., Varjo, J., Kalalahti, M., & Sahlström, F. (2017). Dynamics in education politics. Understanding and explaining the Finnish case. London/New York: Routledge.
Sivistysvaliokunnan mietintö SivM (3/1998). Report on the Parliament of Finland’s Education and Culture Committee’s Preparation of the Renewal of the Basic Education Act in the Nineties. https://www.eduskunta.fi/FI/vaski/Mietinto/Documents/sivm_3+1998.pdf.
Smith, D. E. (1988). The everyday world as problematic. A feminist sociology. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Smith, P. K., Morita, Y., Juger-Tas, D., Olweus, D., Catalano, R., & Slee, P. (Eds.). (1999). The nature of school bullying. A cross-national perspective. London/New York: Routledge.
Stanko, E. A. (Ed.). (2002a). Violence. Aldershot: Ashgate/Dartmouth.
Stanko, E. A. (2002b). Introduction. Searching for the meaning of violence: Limitations of theory and data in our understanding of violence. In E. A. Stanko (Ed.), Violence (pp. xiii–xxiv). Aldershot: Ashgate/Dartmouth.
Tervo, J. (1993). Hapuilua vai hallintaa? Syrjäseudun nuorten käsitykset koulunkäynnistä sekä odotukset ammatista ja työelämään sijoittumisesta lähisosialisaation kehyksessä [Fumbling or in control of one’s life? Youth in rural areas and their conceptions of school and hopes of finding their place in the job market]. Tampere: University of Tampere.
Turvallisuuden edistäminen oppilaitoksissa. (2013). Seurantaryhmän loppuraportti [Promoting safety in educational institutions. Final report of follow-up group] Helsinki: Reports of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture 2013, p. 8.
Turvallisuus perusopetuksessa. Loppuraportti. (2012). Safety in basic education. Final report of task group. Publications of the Ministry of the Interior 6/2012. Helsinki: Ministry of the Interior. www.intermin.julkaisut
Twemlow, S. W., Vernberg, E., Fonagy, P., Biggs, B. K., Nelson, J. M., Nelson, T. D., & Sacco, F. C. (2010). A school climate intervention that reduces bullying by a focus on the bystander audience rather than the bully and the victim. The peaceful schools project of the Menninger Clinic and Baylor College of Medicine. In S. R. Jimerson et al. (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 365–375). New York/London: Routledge.
U.S. Department of Education. (2014). U.S. Department of Education Guiding Principles. A resource guide for improving school climate and discipline. http://strategiesforyouth.org/sfysite/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SROguidelines2014.pdf.
Vesikansa, S. (2009). Kuka kasvattaa, kuka opettaa? Genealoginen tutkimus perheen ja koulun välisen kasvatusvastuun politiikasta [Who teaches, who is the caretaker? A genealogical study on the politics of the division of responsibility between the school and the family]. University of Helsinki, research from the Faculty of Social Sciences 261.
Wacquant, L. (2009). Punishing the poor. The neoliberal government of social insecurity. Durham/London: The Duke University Press.
Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2010). The spirit level: Why equality is better for everyone. London: Penguin.
Willis, P. (2014, orig. 1978). Learning to labour. How working class kids get working class jobs. Farnham: Asghate.
Young, J. (2011). The criminological imagination. Cambridge/Malden: Policy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vesikansa, S., Honkatukia, P. (2018). School Violence as a Complex Social Problem: Trends in Managing Discipline in Finnish Educational Policy. In: Deakin, J., Taylor, E., Kupchik, A. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71559-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71559-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71558-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71559-9
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)