Date

12-4-2025

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Richard Segovia

Keywords

school violence, school violence prevention, strategies, policies, laws

Disciplines

Education | Law

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of urban high school administrators addressing school violence prevention policies and strategies in academic settings in an urban school district in Tennessee. The central research question used to lead this study is, what are the experiences of school administrators addressing school violence prevention strategies and safety policies in the academic setting? The theory that guided this study is Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory emphasizes observation, imitation, and modeling, and the relative connection between behavior and the social environment was applied in this study to evaluate aggressive behavior that appears in the learning environment. The experiences of school administrators related to school violence prevention strategies and safety policies in the academic setting were studied using a transcendental phenomenological research design. The participants for this study included 10 to 12 high school assistant principals representing grades nine through twelve at two of the largest high schools in an urban district, with students enrolled in grades nine through twelve. The data collection approaches for this study consisted of interviews, journals, and focus groups, using multiple methods to achieve triangulation. The recorded data and journal prompts were manually coded. Additionally, the collected data were analyzed using the transcendental phenomenological data analysis steps.

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