Conflict and Violence in Homogeneous and Mixed Tribal Bedouin Schools in Israel


Abu Rabia A.

in: Confligo: Conflict in a Society in Transition,, Borisz A. Szegál and István András, Editor, Hungry Mind Press see Ruminator Press, Budapest, pp.19-44, 2011

  • Publication Type: Book Chapter / Chapter Research Book
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Publisher: Hungry Mind Press see Ruminator Press
  • City: Budapest
  • Page Numbers: pp.19-44
  • Editors: Borisz A. Szegál and István András, Editor
  • Erciyes University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Tradition and religious factors cause adolescents to leave school at an early age. Traditional families withdraw their daughters from school at the onset of puberty for fear of violation of family honor, or due to violence in school. Bedouin parents’ sensitivity to violence is great because of its possible connection to intra-tribal or inter-tribal conflicts that can lead to violence, even murder. Bedouin pupils at a school are representatives of their families and tribes; hence, those who are physi- cally weak or too young to manage in difficult situations become a ‘jeopardy’ and may find themselves ejected from the school system at an early age. One important finding is that violence in small Bedouin schools is relatively low; this finding is men- tioned by Coleman (1980), who argues that conflict and violence that begins outside the school is transferred into the school setting. This phenomenon is described by Matza (1968), in Non-bedouin Schools.

Violence is relatively low in primary schools where familial and tribal composition of the student body is relatively homogenous. It increases in junior schools where the student body becomes mixed and peaks in high schools - while violence tends to be between parties from different families and tribes, with this tendency most acute in high school. Furthermore, location of primary, junior and high schools on com- mon ‘campuses’ in Bedouin towns serves to increase violence by allowing it to spill over from one school to another. Regional schools that draw from different tribes/ extended families have a higher rate of violence than schools that serve one tribe. On the other hand, when the tribal-familial affiliation of the principal and teachers is identical to the student body, this contributes to fewer and less severe episodes of violence.