In my thesis, I focused on understanding peer violence among students in the last three years of primary school. In an overview of the issue, I explained the concept of peer violence and identified the forms and roles of peer violence. I listed the risk factors for violence and presented the principles and areas of work of the school counselling service. I explained the role of the school counselling service in the prevention of violence and concluded the theoretical part with the link between social work and the school counselling service. In the problem statement, I stated the purpose of the research, which is to find out how adolescents in the last three years of primary school understand peer violence, what experiences they have with it in primary school, what they think influences the occurrence of peer violence, who they can turn to for help when experiencing it, and what the role of the school counselling service or adults should be in peer violence. In doing so, my aim is to give students a voice in the topic under investigation. In the methodological part I defined the type of research as qualitative and empirical. I have specified the research topics - understanding peer violence, experiences of peer violence at school, help with peer violence, school counselling services and prevention of peer violence. The population of the study was pupils in the third year of primary school in Slovenia in the school year 2023/2024. The sample of 18 units was non-randomised, as not all units of the population were able to participate, and convenient, as I worked with a school that was willing to work with me and the school counsellor helped me collect the units. The method of data collection was questioning, which was oral, and group based. However, the questioning was also partly indirect and standardised. The measuring instrument was the focus group guidelines. I described the data collection, which took place in person in one of Ljubljana's primary schools, and explained the data processing and analysis, describing open and axial coding. The research showed that students understand peer violence in different ways and associate it with different acts and forms of violence. They identify the causes in both the victim and the perpetrator of peer violence. I have found that family, peers and the media are the predominant risk factors for violence. The response and action of students depends on each individual and the students involved in the violence. Psychological and physical violence are present at school, followed by online violence. I have learnt that most of the time students try to solve the problems themselves. In most cases, school staff follow a protocol for dealing with perceived peer violence, but sometimes there is a violation of the principle of dealing with peer violence by confronting the victim and the perpetrator in a conversation. Seeking help and going to the school counselling service is stigmatising for the students, as they acquire the labels and thus lose status and position in the classroom. I have found that schools have violence prevention programmes, but they need to be updated in terms of content. Students see stereotyping based on gender and forms of violence and would like to see more trust in teachers, the introduction of a duty teacher, voluntary annual interviews in the school counselling service and more discreet invitations to talk to the school counselling service.
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