Nasilje među vršnjacima kao odraz uvjeta u kojima djeca odrastaju: percepcija, stavovi i iskustva srednjoškolaca
Violence among peers as a reflection of children’s growing up conditions: perception, attitudes and experiences of high school students

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this qualitative research is to get a deeper insight into perception, attitudes and experiences of high school students about the influence of family, local communities, society and the media on victimization and violent behavior of children and young people towards their peers. Focus groups included students (N=30) from Croatia, 15-17 years old. Research results suggest that the strongest influence on children’s participation in peer violence are their parents, especially interparental destructive interactions and violent behavior of parents towards children and overly protective, but also intrusive and controlling behavior of parents with good intentions, which leads to bad outcomes (selfishness, egocentricity, need for immediate fulfillment of children’s wishes, etc.). Hostile interactions that dominate local communities and are treated as normal behavior are a model for similar behaviors of children towards their peers. On a macro level, injustice, inequality and poverty have a strong impact on lives of some students, so with their violent behavior they try to create a sense of power and importance in school, which they objectively do not have, but miss. Regarding media influences, social networks play the most important role in children’s participation in peer violence, but when it comes to influence of violent computer and video games, students’ views are diametrically opposed. Efforts to prevent peer violence must take into account various risk factors and the complex interactions between them.

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