Using a Group-Based Trajectory Approach to Assess Theoretical Predictors of Teacher Victimization

The findings of this study of the trajectory patterns of teacher victimization in the context of opportunity theories show that students’ aggression toward teachers is a serious and pervasive problem, continuously affecting many teachers over time, across a variety of victimization types. Group-based trajectory modeling identifies five distinct groups for teacher victimization trajectories and a substantial proportion of the sample was found belonging to the mid-stable and high-stable groups. The findings provide some support of opportunity theory’s applicability in explaining distinctive patterns of teacher victimization trajectories as several theoretically informed factors were found to be related to class membership. Overall, the findings have demonstrated the importance of understanding heterogeneity and distinctive trajectories of teacher victimization over time in order to inform the development and implementation of comprehensive anti-teacher victimization interventions and counseling programs specifically targeted to mid/high-stable victimized groups. Group-based trajectory modeling is adopted to estimate the latent trajectory groups of teacher victimization with four waves of the study sample. Seven different types of teacher victimization by students at school are measured and six key individual-level measures of the presence of capable guardianship, motivated offender, target vulnerability, and target antagonism are included. (Published Abstract Provided)