Page 1 of 12
162
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.9
Publication Date: September 25, 2020
DOI:10.14738/assrj.79.8936.
Rodriguez, I. R., & Beltran, C. A. (2020). Teacher Abuse And Associated Sociodemographic Variables In University Students. Advances in
Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(9) 162-173.
Teacher Abuse And Associated Sociodemographic Variables In
University Students
Irma Ramos Rodriguez
Department of Molecular and Genomic Biology,
University Center for Health Sciences,
Universidad de Guadalajara
Carolina Aranda Beltran
Department of Public Health
University Center Health Sciences,
Universidad de Guadalajara
ABSTRACT
Teacher abuse is an ancient practice at different educational levels, the
attacks by teachers vary from verbal and physical abuse, social
exclusion, among other forms of abuse. Objective: To analyze the
relationship between teacher abuse with gender, age, career, and other
associated variables in students of different careers from a public
university in Mexico. Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional,
analytical study was carried out in 1149 first semester university
students to collect the information, two questionnaires were applied,
one on sociodemographic data and the other on teacher abuse. Results:
Teacher abuse was presented in 10.5% of the participants, who claim to
have been mistreated by at least one teacher in the current semester,
31.4% say they are afraid of attending university, 9.6% claim to fear a
teacher. No differences were found between teacher abuse and the
gender of the participants, or according to age, but there were
differences according to the degree they were studying. Conclusions:
Teacher abuse is a common practice in the university, this can cause in
the student fear of teachers, fear of attending the university,
absenteeism, school dropout and low academic performance.
Keywords: Teacher abuse, fear of school, university students,
sociodemographic variables
INTRODUCTION
Teacher abuse is a type of violence that occurs frequently in the classroom and in other spaces
dedicated to teaching, these behaviors are also known as teacher malpractice, teacher misconduct,
teacher iatrogenesis or pedagogy of obstruction (Orantes & Reverand, 1995).
Aggressive behaviors on the part of some teachers are ancient practices; however, their study at the
university began in the eighties, when american medical students who start their studies with great
enthusiasm and dedication, became after a while cynical, resentful and frustrated individuals, this
Page 2 of 12
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.79.8936 163
Rodriguez, I. R., & Beltran, C. A. (2020). Teacher Abuse And Associated Sociodemographic Variables In University Students. Advances in Social Sciences
Research Journal, 7(9) 162-173.
transformation was attributed mainly to the mistreatment and abuse they received from attending
physicians and residents during the performance of practical hospital activities (Silver & Glicken,
1990).
Another important fact occurred in the 90’s when the high levels of demands by teachers of "filter"
classes (Orantes & Reverand, 1995) became evident, who instead of facilitating the learning, did
everything possible for making it difficult to understand (Orantes & Reverand, 1993).
Violence is a serious problem faced by millions of people worldwide. The 20th century has been
considered one of the most violent periods in the history of humanity, it is estimated that
approximately 191 million people have died as a result of armed conflicts, more than half of these
correspond to the civil population (WHO, 2002).
Violence is present in different contexts including the educational environment, according to the
World Health Organization (2002), violence is defined as “the deliberate use of physical force or
power, in a degree of threat or effective, against oneself, another person, a group or community, that
causes or has a high probability of causing injury, death, psychological damage, developmental
disorders or deprivation”.
Different types of violence can occur in the university, one of them is bullying, which is characterized
by intentional, repetitive, systematic acts against a person chosen as the target of the attacks, the
aggressor is in a superior position than the victim and is usually motivated by obtaining social
rewards such as power, recognition and acceptance by the group (Coloroso, 2004; Salmivalli &
Peets, 2010).
Conflictive relationships between teachers and students generate power relations, in most cases the
domain is exercised by the teacher, while the student plays the role of victim (Romero & Plata, 2015;
Olweus, 1993). Manifestations of teacher abuse include unequal and humiliating treatment of
students, not giving importance to their needs, minimizing their abilities, belittle their opinions in
public, making disparaging comparisons, appropriating their work, applying unfair punishments,
calling names, insulting, humiliating , shouting, discriminating, threatening, intimidating, ignoring
students, not letting them participate, excluding them from school activities, sexually harassing
them, to name a few (Cervantes, Sánchez, & Villalobos, 2013).
Abusive teachers are characterized by being arrogant and haughty, they believe they are possessors
of the truth, lack empathy, have low tolerance for frustration and little patience (Rivero, 2008).
Teachers justify their actions by arguing that the violence they exert on their students is to improve
coexistence, attract attention, set an example, control students, demand respect (Gallego, Acosta,
Villalobos, López & Giraldo, 2016) and maintain discipline (Gallego, 2016; Orantes, 2008).
Some of the students blame themselves for the abuse they suffer, this causes the development of
feelings like worthlessness and helplessness, in addition to behavior problems and poor school
performance (Lyles, 2014), other students become insensitive and have experiences of anxiety and
fear of going to school (Ceja, Cervantes & Ramírez, 2011). Students abused by the teacher are more
likely to drop out their studies due to lack of motivation, find it difficult to establish new
Page 3 of 12
164
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 9, September-2020
relationships and express their emotions and trust to others (Davies, 2011), in addition to
presenting hypervigilant and defensive behavior (Hernández & Prieto, 2018).
Studies on teacher abuse in university students are scarce, the damages produced in students are
serious and include the deterioration of the physical and psychological integrity of the victim, the
detriment of the classroom climate and the teaching-learning process, for all that previously
exposed, the objective of this research is analyze the relationship between teacher abuse and its
association with sociodemographic variables, in students of a public university in Mexico.
METHODS
Descriptive, cross-sectional, analytical study. The population of university students was selected by
census sampling, with the participation of students who were in the first semester of different
careers. This study is part of a larger investigation, which includes violence and bullying between
peers.
Process
The first step was to obtain authorization to conduct the research, once this was obtained, the
classrooms were visited, the objective of the study was explained, and their participation would
consist of, they were explained that they could refuse to participate, and that the data they provided
would be handled confidentially and anonymously, the doubts regarding the study were clarified,
those who expressed their desire to participate in it, did so by signing an informed consent.
Instruments
The data were obtained with the application of two questionnaires, a questionnaire on
sociodemographic data, which included variables such as age, sex, marital status, career, if the
students had a job, with whom they live, to name a few; the other questionnaire contained questions
related to the treatment of students by teachers, the violent demonstrations used against them,
whether they have been afraid to go to university, the reasons why they are afraid to go to college,
if they tell to someone about the aggressions, and other variables that helped in the evaluation of
teacher abuse.
Analysis of data
The data analysis included descriptive statistics, absolute and relative frequencies were calculated
for the categorical variables, measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion for the
numerical variables, the associations between variables were made with contingency tables, Chi- square was calculated , Odds Ratio and their 95% confidence intervals (CI), with the SPSS statistical
program for Social Sciences version 20.
Ethical aspects
In accordance with the Regulation of the General Health Law in Mexico, in the field of health
research article 17, this research is classified as category 1 without any risk, the participation of the
students was voluntary, after signing an informed consent, the information collected was handled
confidentially and anonymously.