VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

NGUYEN VAN TUONG

COPING WITH ACTS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE BY
LOWER SECONDARY STUDENTS
Major: Psychology
Code: 9.31.04.01

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS IN
PSYCHOLOGY

HANOI - 2019


The thesis is completed at:
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. NGUYEN THI HOA

Supervisor 1: Assoc. Prof. Dr. TRAN THI MINH HANG
Supervisor 2: Assoc. Prof. Dr. PHAM THI THU HOA
Supervisor 3: Assoc. Prof. Dr. DO THI HANH PHUC

The thesis will be examined by the Academy-level Examination Board at
..............................................................................................................
On:..........hour(s)...........day...........month............year 20......

The thesis can be found at:
- National Library of Vietnam

coping with acts of school violence, etc.), the expressions and ways of coping with
acts of school violence by lower secondary students, factors that affect the ways of
coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary students.
- Survey and assess the actual state of the ways of coping with acts of school
violence by lower secondary students, along with factors that affect the ways of
coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary students.
- Propose a number of recommendations to help lower secondary students cope
more positively to acts of school violence.
3. Research subject matter and scope of the thesis
3.1. Research subject matter
Expressions and ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary
students.
3.2. Research scope of the topic
3.2.1. Research content
- Study the acts of school violence that occur among students.
- Study the ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary
students who are victim of acts of school violence.
- Study the coping by lower secondary students with acts of school violence in
general.
- Approach the 3-sided psychological structure (thoughts, emotions, actions) to
learn ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary students.
3.2.2. Research object
Research object to develop the questionnaires is 12 students who used to cause
acts of school violence; 9 students who are victims of acts of school violence.
Trial investigation object (to check whether the language used in the
questionnaire and the time to answer the questionnaire are appropriate) is 25 lower
secondary students in Ho Chi Minh City.
Official research object (to investigate the actual state of ways of coping with
acts of school violence by lower secondary students) is 417 lower secondary students
who suffer from school violence in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Thuan Province.

When lower secondary students experience acts of school violence, they often
choose to cope with positive thoughts, positive emotions and positive actions. Coping
with negative thoughts, negative emotions and negative actions is not prioritized by
the students.
There is a statistically significant difference between the ways of coping by
lower secondary students and variables of geography, gender, and grade.
Psychosocial factors such as the friendship of lower secondary students,
behavior between parents and lower secondary students, behavior between schools,
teachers and lower secondary students have influence and can change the expressions
and ways of coping by lower secondary students when they encounter acts of school
violence.
4.3. Research questions
How do lower secondary students cope with acts of school violence?
Is there any difference between the ways of coping with acts of school violence
by lower secondary students and variables of geography, gender, academic
performance, and grade?
How do personal psychological and psychosocial factors affect the choice of
ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary students?
4.4. Research methods of the thesis
+ Researching documents
+ Expert method
+ Concentrated group discussion
+ Investigation by questionnaire
+ In-depth interview
+ Case study
+ Processing data by mathematical statistics
5. New scientific contributions of the thesis
5.1. In theory
The thesis has built a theoretical basis for the ways of coping with acts of school
violence by lower secondary students; identified tool concepts (coping, acts of school

children in lower secondary age, as a basis for them to find effective measures to help
lower secondary students effectively cope with acts of school violence. It is also a
very useful document for lower secondary students where they are victims of acts of
school violence.
7. Structure of the thesis
In addition to the introduction, conclusions and recommendations, list of
references and annexes, the thesis consists of 4 chapters.
CHAPTER 1
AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ON WAYS OF COPING WITH ACTS
OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE BY LOWER SECONDARY STUDENTS
1.1. Studies related to ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary
students
Ways of coping by children, adolescents, pupils and students to dangerous
situations in life are of research interest by many authors in the world and in Vietnam,
from theoretical studies to practical studies. Studies on this issue follow some of the
following trends: (1) Studying coping models, coping strategies and coping skills of
children, adolescents, pupils and students; (2) Studying to measure and evaluate the
coping behavior of adolescents; (3) Studying factors that affect the coping behavior
4


of adolescents; (4) Studying the coping behavior of students and adolescents in
cultural differences.
In general, studies related to the students’ ways of coping with difficulties in life
have shown the ways of coping, coping models, coping strategies and typical coping
skills of student groups, thereby entailed studies to measure and evaluate the students’
coping behavior through the development, improvement and Vietnamization of coping
scales. The existing studies also show personal psychological and psychosocial factors
that affect the students’ ways of coping. Some other studies consider this issue in
cultural differences between regions, countries and ethnic groups, thereby showing

This study is based on three basic psychological functions which are thoughts emotions - actions, and refers to the coping models of the previous authors, in which
the main reference is from the coping model of author Phan Thi Mai Huong et al.
(2007), to learn the expressions and ways of coping with acts of school violence by
lower secondary students. Accordingly, ways of coping with acts of school violence
by lower secondary students have a psychological structure consisting of 3
5


components: thoughts, emotions and actions. From there, it is based on the purpose of
the subject's coping to identify the ways of coping and based on the significance of
the ways of coping in problem solving and mental health improvement for
individuals to divide the ways of coping into 2 directions which are positive coping
and negative coping.
2.2. Acts of school violence
2.2.1. Concept of acts
This thesis is based on the perspective of Corsini (1999) on acts to learn about acts
of school violence by lower secondary students. Thus, acts of an individual are not
simply gestures, actions that are revealed to the outside and observable but also the inner
gestures and unconscious processes.
2.2.2. Concept of school violence
School violence means that one or several members in the school environment
threaten to use or use their physical strength or power to cause physical, mental or
material damages to one or several other members.
2.2.3. Concept of acts of school violence
Acts of school violence are actions that consciously harm others (physically,
mentally and materially) that occur within or outside the school, performed by one or
several groups of students towards another student.
2.2.4. Types of acts of school violence
This study only investigates the actual state of school violence among lower
secondary students in the three most common forms of school violence: mental

(1) Resignation means subjective thoughts of students about a violent situation
such as accepting a violent situation as an obvious thing everyone faces, those who
encounter this situation must suffer, and no one can help them. This way of coping in
the long run does not help students solve their problems in a positive way but makes
their problems more complicated and adversely affects their mental health,
friendships and learning activities.
(2) Problem inference means subjective thoughts, inaccurate and incomplete
evaluation of students about themselves and violent situations such as completely
blaming others, completely blaming themselves, underestimating themselves, and just
looking at the negative effects of the problem. This way of coping in the long run
does not help students solve their problems in a positive way but makes their
problems more complicated and adversely affects their mental health, friendships and
learning activities.
(3) Self-comfort means the positive thoughts, objective evaluation of students
about the effects of a violent situation such as seeing things as a challenge in life, if they
can overcome, it will help themselves more mature; this issue will help them gain more
experience in dealing with similar situations in the future. This way of coping in the long
run can help students solve their problems in a positive way, limit the negative effects of
the violent situation on their mental health, friendships and learning activities.
(4) Problem-solving orientation means the positive thoughts, objective
evaluation of students about causes of a violent situation, pointing out solutions and
choosing appropriate solutions to solve the violent situation in a positive way, in
order to limit the negative effects of the violent situation on their mental health,
friendships and learning activities.
(5) Emotional expression means that students express their emotions (worry,
fear, boredom, sadness, insecurity, and anger) when encountering school violence.
This way of coping demonstrates students' momentary emotions when facing with
violent situations, but in the long run this way of coping does not help students solve
their problems in a positive way and adversely affects their mental health, friendships
and learning activities.

violent situations and seek help from related parties to solve the problem they are
encountering. This way of coping helps students solve their problems in a positive
way, thereby helping students avoid the negative effects of violent situations on their
mental health, friendships and learning activities.
(11) Problem-solving actions means the students' actions to solve the problem
through planning to implement the chosen solutions, taking action to implement the
set plan, trying and endeavoring to overcome all difficulties to implement the set plan
and draw lessons for themselves. This way of coping clearly shows the students'
determination to solve problems, thereby helping students have a good mental health,
improve relationships with friends and does not adversely affect their learning
activities.
Then, significance of the ways of coping with the students themselves and 02
criteria (Firstly, in the long run, which way of coping has a positive impact on
students' mental health? Secondly, in the long run, which way of coping is directed to
solving problems that students face?) will be relied on to divide the ways of coping
with thoughts, emotions and actions by the students into two directions: positive and
negative. Accordingly, 11 ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower
secondary students are divided into 6 expression groups, namely as follows:
(1) Negative thoughts mean that students accept the problem (they have to
suffer) or infer the problem in a negative way. Negative thoughts can help students
get a temporary "support" for the problem they are encountering, but in the long run
does not help students solve their problem but makes the problem more complicated,
and adversely affects their mental health, friendships and learning activities. This
expression includes two ways of coping: problem resignation and problem inference.
(2) Positive thoughts mean that students see the violent situation from
multiple perspectives and consider the situation in a positive correlation to
themselves, thereby limiting the negative effects of the violent situation on their
mental health, friendships and learning activities. This expression includes two ways
of coping: self-comfort and problem-solving orientation.
(3) Negative emotions mean that students repress to the inside or express to

secondary students who suffer from school violence
2.7. Factors affecting the ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
Based on the factors affecting the ways of coping that have been studied by the
authors in the world and in Vietnam, the thesis determined that the ways of coping
with acts of school violence by lower secondary students are a psychological process
governed by many different factors and divided into two basic groups: personal
psychological factors and psychosocial factors. In particular, personal psychological
factors include: 1/ the students' awareness of acts of school violence; 2/ the students'
personality; 3/ the students' attitude of life. Psychosocial factors include: 1/ the
students' friendship; 2/ behavior between school, teachers and students; 3/ behavior
between parents and students.
Sub-conclusion of chapter 2

9


CHAPTER 3
ORGANIZATION AND METHODS FOR RESEARCH ON WAYS OF
COPING WITH ACTS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE BY LOWER SECONDARY
STUDENTS
3.1. Organization for research
3.1.1. Stages of research
3.1.1.1. Theoretical research stage (from September 2016 to March 2018)
3.1.1.2. Practical research stage (from April 2018 to December 2018)
3.1.2. Study area and sample
3.1.2.1. Study area
The study was conducted at 2 lower secondary schools in District 3, Ho Chi
Minh City (L.L Lower secondary school and L.Q.Đ Lower secondary school) and 2
lower secondary schools in Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan Province (H.T

investigator introduced how to answer the questionnaires and took time for the
students to answer the questionnaires.
Accordingly, 438 students (accounting for 45.9%) out of 953 students identified
themselves as victims of at least one form of school violence and voluntarily stayed
10


to answer the questionnaires, after collecting the questionnaires and coding, there
were 417 valid notes (accounting for 43.7% of the total 953 students) and 21 invalid
notes. Demographic information of 417 objects participating in the survey was shown
as follows:
Table 3.1: Some characteristics of the official survey samples
Area
Object characteristics
Ho Chi Minh City
Binh Thuan
Total
Quantity
%
Quantity
%
Total
215
51,6
202
48,4
417
1. Grade 6
51
23,7

122
56,7
106
52,5
228
1. Weak
0
0,0
0
0,0
0
2. Average
17
7,9
29
14,4
46
Academic
performance 3. Good
113
52,6
127
62,9
240
4. Excellent
85
39,5
46
22,8
131

Identification
4 Academic performance of the most recent semester
1
Identification
Part 2: Actual state of school violence by lower secondary students
1 Mental violence
5
5-point Likert
2 Physical violence
4
5-point Likert
3 Economic violence
3
5-point Likert
Part 3: Actual state of ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary
students
1 Coping with thoughts
17
5-point Likert
1.1 Problem resignation
4
5-point Likert

11


Number of
observed
variables*
1.2 Problem inference

5
4 The students' friendship
5
5 Behavior between school, teachers and students
10
6 Behavior between parents and students
5
Acknowledgment
No.

Concept

Scale
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
lower secondary
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert
5-point Likert

RESULTS OF PRACTICAL RESEARCH ON WAYS OF COPING WITH
ACTS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE BY LOWER SECONDARY STUDENTS
4.1. The actual state of school violence by lower secondary students

4.1.1. General actual state of forms of school violence by lower secondary
students
With three common forms of school violence (mental violence, physical
violence, and material violence), mental violence was chosen by students with the
highest Mean (3.07), followed by physical violence (2.96) and material violence
(2.90). The results show that lower secondary students participating in this study
suffered from school violence at normal level (sometimes) and the most common was
mental violence, followed by physical violence and material violence.
4.1.2. Specific actual state of forms of school violence by lower secondary students
4.1.2.1. Actual state of mental violence by lower secondary students
The most common expression of mental violence encountered by the students
was "being intentionally removed from many things, boycotted from a group of
friends, completely ignored" by friends (Mean = 3.13) and the least common
expression was "being fabricated, slandered, falsely rumored or threatened to publish
personal information to everyone by friends" (Mean = 2.98).
4.1.2.2. Actual state of physical violence by lower secondary students
The most common expression of physical violence encountered by the students
was "having their hair pulled, being slapped, pushed, splashed with water or thrown
with objects" and "being locked up in the classroom or toilet using force” by other
students (Mean = 3.04 and Mean = 3.02), especially they were also “punched, kicked
or attacked with shoes, sandals or sticks" by other students (Mean = 2.99), the least
common expression was "being threatened, forced to do things they don't want"
(Mean = 2.82).
4.1.2.3. Actual state of material violence by lower secondary students
Among the three signs of material violence, the most common sign encountered
by the students was "having their books, school supplies, and personal belongings

3.25); the fourth is coping with "negative emotions" (Mean = 3.37); the fifth is
"negative thoughts" (Mean = 2.36); and finally "negative actions" (Mean = 2.07). Indepth interviews also yield similar results.
4.2.2. Specific actual state of expressions and ways of coping with acts of school
violence by lower secondary students
4.2.2.1. Actual state of coping with negative thoughts to acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
The students rated low for the coping with negative thoughts, including two
ways of coping that are "problem resignation" and "problem inference" in which the
"problem inference" way of coping is selected by more students (Mean = 2.48) than
"problem resignation" (Mean = 2.23). In-depth interviews also yield similar results.
4.2.2.2. Actual state of coping with positive thoughts to acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
The students rated quite high for the coping with positive thoughts, which means
they often use this way of coping when encountering acts of school violence. The
students rated the coping with "self-comfort" higher than the coping with "problemsolving orientation" (Mean = 3.27 versus 3.23).
4.2.2.3. Actual state of coping with negative emotions to acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
The students rated low for the coping with negative emotions (including two
ways of coping that are "expressing" (Mean = 2.22) and "repressing" (Mean = 2.55)
the negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, fear, boredom), it means that the
students sometimes use this way of coping when encountering acts of school violence.
4.2.2.4. Actual state of coping with positive emotions to acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
The students often "balance emotions" by "doing the things they like" (Mean =
3.38), "adjusting breathing, relaxing body, drinking water, etc." (Mean = 3.35) and
"rearranging personal timetable" (Mean = 3.33).
4.2.2.5. Actual state of coping with negative actions to acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
The students rated low for the coping with negative actions. In particular, the
students choose the "problem evasion" more than "retaliation and self-harm" (Mean =

N.T.H – the homeroom teacher of class 9B, L.L Lower secondary school (Ho Chi
Minh City).
The results also show that there is a statistically significant difference (p = 0.00)
between male and female students in the coping with positive thoughts, female
students coped with fewer positive thoughts than male students (Mean = 3.19 versus
3.33, p = 0.00). At the same time, there is also a statistically significant difference (p
< 0.05) among students in different grades in the coping with positive thoughts, grade
9 students coped with more positive thoughts than those in grades 6, 7 and 8.
4.2.3.3. Comparison of the coping with negative emotions by lower secondary
students with demographic variables
There is a statistically significant difference (p = 0.00) between lower secondary
students in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Thuan in the coping with negative emotions.
The results also show that there is a statistically significant difference (p = 0.00)
between male and female students in the coping with negative emotions, female
students coped with more negative emotions than male students. However, there is no
statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) among students in different grades in the
coping with negative emotions and in the "emotional repression" way of coping.
4.2.3.4. Comparison of the coping with emotional balance by lower secondary
students with demographic variables
There is a statistically significant difference in the coping with positive emotions
(emotional balance) by lower secondary students among geographical, gender and grade
variables.
15


4.2.3.5. Comparison of the coping with negative actions by lower secondary students
with demographic variables
There is a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between lower secondary
students in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Thuan in the coping with negative actions,
students in Binh Thuan coped with fewer negative actions than those in Ho Chi Minh

Negative
thoughts
Positive
thoughts
Negative
emotions
Positive
emotions

Correlation
coefficients

Negative Positive Negative Positive Negative Positive
thoughts thoughts emotions emotions actions actions

Pearson
1
-0,393** 0,494** -0,353** 0,498** -0,362**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
0,000
0,000
0,000
0,000
0,000
Pearson
-0,393**
1
-0,339** 0,692** -0,278** 0,228**
Correlation



Coping
expressions

Correlation
coefficients

Negative Positive Negative Positive Negative Positive
thoughts thoughts emotions emotions actions actions

Pearson
0,498** -0,278** 0,466** -0,278**
1
-0,284**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
0,000
0,000
0,000
0,000
0,000
Pearson
-0,362** 0,228** -0,379** 0,236** -0,284**
1
Positive
Correlation
actions
Sig. (2-tailed)
0,000

2
4 The students' friendship
3,48
0,88
4
5 Behavior between school, teachers and students
3,50
0,78
3
6 Behavior between parents and students
3,70
0,86
1

Negative
actions

4.3.1.2. Actual state of each factor affecting the ways of coping with acts of school
violence by lower secondary students
a. The students' awareness of acts of school violence
Most students agreed with the clauses that truly reflect the consequences, forms,
causes, and nature of the acts of school violence such as "school violence is a bad
behavior, which negatively affects students, families, schools, and society”(Mean =
3.58), “cases of school violence should be dealt with strictly and fairly”(Mean = 3.52),
“there are various causes leading to acts of school violence among students” (Mean =
3.41), “physical violence, mental violence, and economic violence are common forms
of school violence” (Mean = 3.23), etc. With the inverse clauses, most students
expressed their disagreement (Mean = 2.26).
b. The students' attitude of life
They know how to "love themselves and also listen, sympathize and respect

-0,14
0,002
4 The students' personality
-0,15
0,002
Model 5: r² = 0,31; constant = 4,72; p < 0,05
1 Behavior between parents and students
-0,24
0,000
2 The students' awareness of acts of school violence
-0,11
0,027
3 The students' attitude of life
-0,13
0,004
4 The students' personality
-0,12
0,014
5 The students' friendship
-0,12
0,021
The results of stepwise multiple regression analysis show that there are 5
optimal forecasting models, where the model that explains most changes in the
negative coping by the students is model 5, which explained 31% of the changes in
this way of coping.
4.3.2.2. Models that predict changes in the coping with negative emotions to acts of
school violence by lower secondary students
Table 4.30: Five models predicting changes in the coping with negative
emotions by lower secondary students
Level of

-0,23
0,000
3 Behavior between parents and students
-0,18
0,001
4 The students' personality
-0,15
0,001
Model 5: r² = 0,40; constant = 4,94; p < 0,01
1 Behavior between school, teachers and students
-0,19
0,000
2 The students' awareness of acts of school violence
-0,20
0,000
3 Behavior between parents and students
-0,15
0,004
4 The students' personality
-0,12
0,006
5 The students' friendship
-0,13
0,009

19


The results of stepwise multiple regression analysis show that there are 5 optimal
forecasting models, where the two models that explain most changes in this way of

0,000
Model 4: r² = 0,30; constant = 3,90; p < 0,01
1 Behavior between parents and students
-0,22
0,000
2 The students' attitude of life
-0,22
0,000
3 The students' personality
-0,15
0,001
4 The students' awareness of acts of school violence
-0,11
0,024
The results of stepwise multiple regression analysis show that there are 4
optimal forecasting models, where the model that explains most changes in this way
of coping is model 4, which explained 30% of the changes in the coping with
negative actions by the students.
4.4. Case study of the ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower
secondary students
4.4.1. Case 1: A student was teased, ridiculed by friends for "girl-like personality"

Diagram 4.1: Ways of coping with acts of school violence by T.T.N and
the influencing factors
20


When N was teased and ridiculed by his friends, he initially repressed his anger
and discomfort, but then he decided to confront and seek help from his friends,
family and school (he planned to tell his mom and ask for class transfer when going

the influencing factors
When A was slandered by his friends to steal the money of a classmate, and was
intentionally provoked by a male classmate, A coped by clearly showing his angry
feelings to his friends, this was related to his thinking about the matter, he believed that
only by hitting his friends will they stop provoking him. Although he faced his
problem by meeting the friend who lost money to make it clear that he was not
involved in that matter, but he retaliated when being provoked by his friends by hitting
them. When he didn't get the support of his friends, he thought that they didn't trust and
help him, only he could solve the problem he was encountering. Through A's story, the
researcher found that A did not really solve his problem, he had many negative
emotions and this is adversely affecting his daily life. Therefore, the researcher
conducted personal psychological consultation with Đ.Q.A.
Sub-conclusion of chapter 4
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. CONCLUSIONS
Through the study of theory and practice of the ways of coping with acts of
school violence by lower secondary students, a number of the following conclusions
can be drawn:
- In the world and in Vietnam, there are many research projects on the ways of
coping by students to difficulties in life, these studies are based on many different
perspectives to point out models, styles, strategies, and ways of coping by students
when they encounter a dangerous situation. In different groups of students, their ways
of coping are also different. The studies in the world mainly rely on the content,
purpose and significance of coping behavior to categorize coping into different ways
such as: coping by focusing on the problem, coping by focusing on emotions, coping
by focusing on evasion, positive coping, and negative coping, etc. At the same time,
the exploratory factor analysis is used to build coping scales for different subjects. In
Vietnam, when studying the ways of coping in general and ways of coping by
students in particular, researchers often rely on three basic psychological functions
22

That is, when students experience acts of school violence, they often cope with
positive actions, positive emotions, and positive thoughts. The ways of coping with
negative thoughts, negative emotions and especially negative actions are not
appreciated by the students. There is a statistically significant difference between the
students’ ways of coping with geographic, gender and grade variables. There is a
strong correlation between the students’ ways of coping.
- Among the 6 psychosocial and psychological factors affecting the expressions
and ways of coping with acts of school violence by lower secondary students, the
behavior between parents and students, behavior between the school/teachers and
students, students' friendships, and students’ attitude of life are the most influential
factors and can change the ways of coping by lower secondary students when they
encounter acts of school violence. The weaker influential factors are students’
personality and students’ awareness of acts of school violence.
- An analysis of the three cases of students’ ways of coping with acts of school
violence showed: (1) a student’s ways of coping when he was teased and ridiculed by
his friends for girl-like personality; (2) a student’s ways of coping when he was
pressured by his friends to resign from monitor and reduce his academic performance;
(3) a student’s ways of coping when he was slandered to steal money by his friends.
From these three cases, it is possible to see how common ways of coping are expressed
23