Student victimization by school staff in the context of an Israeli national school safety campaign.

In this study, we examined and compared findings from four nationally representative studies of victimization of students by school staff in Israel. We explored whether levels of student victimization by school staff (teachers, principals, secretaries, janitors, etc.) have changed between 1998, 1999, 2002, and 2005, and whether patterns of group differences (gender, age, and cultural groups) were replicated across those four points in time. We employed representative samples stratified by ethnic affiliation and school levels. In 1998, there were 15,916 4th-11th grade students from 232 schools; in 1999, 16,414 4th-11th grade students from 239 schools; in 2002, 21,577 4th-11th grade students from 410 schools and in 2005, 27,316 4th-11th grade students from 526 schools across Israel. Overall, the results reveal that for the entire student population in Israel reports of victimization are quite similar across the four waves of data collection. Levels of physical victimization were consistently higher among boys and Arab students, but other group differences were less consistent, especially with regard to differences between age groups. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.