PREVALENCE OF PEER VIOLENCE USING REVENGE AS A VIOLENT CONFRONTATION STRATEGY AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati učestalost vršnjačkog nasilja osvećivanjem kao negativne, nasilne i nepoželjne strategije sučeljavanja među učenicima osnovne škole. Ispitivanje je obuhvatilo 104 učenika petih i 100 učenika osmih razreda. Dobiveni rezultati pokazali su da stariji učenici (oko 30%) učestalije prakticiraju osvećivanje nego mlađi (oko 19%) te da ispitani dječaci, u odnosu na djevojčice, češće pribjegavaju osvećivanju, što se pokazalo značajnijim samo kod mlađih učenika. Naime, nema statistički značajnih razlika glede učestalosti osvećivanja unutar spola ispitanih učenika 8. Razreda, s tim da su dječaci značajnije od djevojčica spremniji prijetiti osobi s kojom su u sukobu. Škola, kao odgojno-obrazovna ustanova, potencijalna je scena na kojoj svoju dramu odigravaju nasilnici i žrtve nasilja. Od velike je važnosti prepoznati i zaustaviti vršnjačko nasilje. To podrazumijeva pružiti pomoći djeci koja trpe nasilje i djeci koja ga čine, ali i djeci koja su promatrači, svjedoci nasilja.The aim of this paper is to examine the prevalence of peer violence among primary school students, where revenge is used as a negative, violent, and undesirable confrontation strategy. The research included 104 fifth grade and 100 eighth grade students. The results obtained demonstrated that older students practice revenge more frequently (by app. 30%) than the younger ones (app. 19%). Besides, when compared to girls, examined boys resort to revenge more frequently, which was found to be more significant only with younger students. Namely, there are no significant differences statistically with regard to the prevalence of revenge among examined eighth grade students of the same gender. However, boys tend to threaten the person they are in conflict with more frequently than girls. As an institution of education, school presents a likely setting in which bullies and their victims play their respective roles. It is of utmost importance to recognize and prevent peer violence. This necessitates providing help to children who are victims of violence as well as to children practicing it. It also includes those who only observe, or witness violence