The Current State of Crisis Management Within Icelandic Schools: Responding to Violence Against Children

This paper explores crisis management in schools regarding violence against children. It aims to understand the current state of this significant subject and the importance of the school environment in that regard. Schools and school staff must be well prepared to respond adequately if they suspect a child is being subjected to violence. The author conducted a literature review of studies that explored crisis management, crisis management in schools, and violence against children. Then, the different crisis plans available to schools were examined, as well as the legal environment in Iceland concerning violence against children. Lastly, to explore violence against children and the role of schools in more depth, a questionnaire was sent out to teachers in Hjallastefnan. The questionnaire explored numerous factors, such as teacher experience and confidence in dealing with violence against children, support from superiors, and whether teachers need more education. The findings of this paper showed that violence against children is a prevalent issue in Iceland that requires immediate action. The author found that crisis plans for schools are very much driven by the legal environment in Iceland, especially the legal duty of teachers to report violence against children. The available crisis plans need to go beyond just the duty to report, and the resources available do not do that enough. The results also indicated that teachers want and need more education regarding violence against children. Furthermore, teachers at Hjallastefnan have suspected that a child they work with is being subjected to violence, proving the prevalence of violence against children in Iceland and the need for further action. Lastly, the author of this paper utilized the findings of this paper to create and design suggestions for improvement on crisis plans available for teachers in Icelandic schools.

Author dc:creator

• Dagný Björt Jakobsdóttir 2000-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn á Bifröst

• Áfallastjórnun
• Ofbeldi gegn börnum
• Skólar
• Viðbragðsáætlanir
• Kennarar

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1946/49163

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/49163