How Violence Against Woman Influence Children and Their Teachers
Author(s):
Zeynep Akdag (presenting / submitting) Cigdem Haser
Conference:
ECER 2012
Network:
05. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Format:
Paper

Session Information

05 SES 08 B, Urban Education & Children and Youth at Risk

Parallel Paper Session

Time:
2012-09-20
09:00-10:30
Room:
ESI 1 - Aula 25
Chair:
Mieke Van Houtte

Contribution

Violence against women is a common worldwide problem faced by all women without distinction of race, language, religion, and ethnic group. It is a serious social problem, which affects public health. Moreover, it prevents women of their most basic human rights and basic freedoms, adversely affects their health, and put backs their effective participation in social and economic life. For this reason, violence against women has being considered as violation of woman's human right for 30 years since it is an important obstacle for the progress of nations. As such, Turkey has begun to fight with violence by taking legal and administrative measures in all fields with the aim to prevent violence against women and protect the victims (KSGM, 2009). Apparently, those protections do not work enough since woman experience violence mainly from their husband even violence turns into homicide in Turkey. According to statistics of Ministry of Justice and Law, woman homicide increased 1400% between 2002 and 2009. Sixty-six woman were murdered in 2002, yet this number increased to 953 in the first 7 months of 2009 (Radikal, 2010). Unfortunately, most of the women have been killed by their husband or partner; therefore, it is one of the important issues to be investigated and acted upon it (report, 2009). Violence against women is not a crime for woman; rather it is crime for all society. This study aimed to reflect how woman homicides result in emotional and behavioral problems in children’s life when they lost their mother by focusing a case of child. Beside, this study tried to represent how her teacher struggled to deal with this child.

This study is a part of main study scrutinizing beginning early childhood education teachers' experiences in their first year of teaching. One of the beginning teachers' biggest challenges in her first year of teaching was handling a child who witnessed that her father shot and killed her mother in front of her eyes. She was experiencing severe emotional dsyregulations and her teacher struggled to help her to overcome that tragic incident in her life.

Method

This study can be considered as a case study since it aimed to reflect effect of violence against woman on society by focusing on a case of child. Merriam (1998, p.27) defines qualitative case study as “an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single instance, phenomenon, or social unit.” What makes a research a case study is that having a bounded system (Creswell, 2007). In this study data collected through two in-depth interviews with the child’s early childhood teacher conducted at the end of the first semester and second semester. The data were analyzed through the qualitative data analysis techniques. The child who experienced this tragic event was 6 year old girls. She has a two sister and her older sister was sent to social service when her mother died and father was captured in prison. Her little sister and she started to live with their relatives. Two months has just passed on the tragic events when she began to school. Her teacher was a beginning teacher and it was her first year in teaching profession. In this study, pseudo names were used for both teacher and children. Teacher is referred as Gullu and child is referred as Serap.

Expected Outcomes

First-year of teaching is even difficult for beginning teachers who teaches typical children. Having a child who witnessed that her father killed her mother in front of her eyes, makes first-year of teaching even more inconvenient than what it is supposed to be. Supporting this child is difficult as her emotional condition is so delicate to cope with even little unpleasant approach towards her. As such, her teacher tried to be more patient, warm, and responsive and she did not enforce the child to join activities or she did not make pressure. She allowed her to stay alone to make her feel comfortable in class. Second semester teacher began to know the child better and she figured out some ways to reach her. Teacher did not let her free anymore, rather she insisted to involve her in classroom activities when she refused to join. At the end of the second term this child made some progress and she got over introversion and started to communicate with her friends. Unfortunately, this child did not get psychological help from a psychologist. Teacher tried her best but she is not an expert on these difficult children and the child still has many problems.

References

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. Demirci, E. (2011, December 20). Kadın cinayetleri 7 yılda yüzde 1400 arttı. Radikal. Retrieved from http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetayV3&ArticleID=1030040&Date=24.11.2010&CategoryID=77 Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative research and case studies applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publications. Kadinin statusu genel mudurlugu (2009, June). National research on domestic violence against woman in Turkey. Retrieved from http://www.ksgm.gov.tr/tdvaw/anasayfa.htm

Author Information

Zeynep Akdag (presenting / submitting)
Yuzuncu Yil University, Turkey
Cigdem Haser
Middle East Technical University, Turkey

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