Teacher Responsiveness and Instruction for Verbal Aggression Victimization: Survey Results of Secondary Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) often have difficulty with social adjustment and academic achievement, engaging in problem behaviors such as defiance, rule-breaking, and truancy, yet one particularly challenging behavior is aggression. Researchers assert that verbal aggression (VA) is the most frequent form of aggression in schools; however, little is known about student perceptions of VA among students with EBD. We surveyed 144 secondary students with EBD finding infrequent reporting to teachers about VA victimization. According to students, the most effective teacher responses to a report of VA victimization were moving the victim away from the perpetrator, providing advice, and punishing the aggressor. Students reported that the content of teacher instruction about VA most often included reporting victimization to a teacher, avoiding the aggressor, and ignoring the verbally aggressive behavior. We discuss implications for teacher education and practice including what strategies deter VA and effective teacher responses to victimization. We conclude with recommendations for future research such as examining risk and protective factors for VA involvement, assessing whether students’ attitudes and beliefs contribute to VA, and conducting longitudinal studies.