Violence and gender thresholds: A study of the gender coding of violent behaviour in schools

Abstract

This article explores how schools define situations in which students have been exposed to violence at school. The purpose of the study is to explore and investigate whether and how school violence is gendered and whether acts of violence are being coded as either masculine or feminine. The data were gathered at Swedish secondary schools. The results indicate that gender influences how professionals categorise violence, with physical violence often being considered masculine and relational violence often being considered feminine. As a consequence, boys are perceived as less violent when they are involved in relational violence, and physical violence among girls is not always taken seriously.