Preventative Strategies to Curb School Violence: A Case Study of Selected Schools in Hhohho District of Eswatini, Mbabane

REVIEWER 1 (COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS)

AMMENDMENTS  

I don't see the criminological perspective in the text, which is highlighted in the title. So I suggest removing this from the title of the article.

The topic has been amended

New topic: Preventative Strategies to Curb School Violence: A case study of selected schools in Hhohho District of Eswatini, Mbabane.

Perhaps it would also be worth making greater reference in the discussion to the adopted theoretical basis, which is the social learning theory. I am not sure whether it actually had any application here in these studies and/or the interpretation of their results.

A link has been made between the themes that emerged with theoretical and analytical elements. (Please see track changes in the revised manuscript)

Row 4 maybe to mention the city in question in the title?,

 The name of the city has been inserted (Mbabane)

Row 15 in which country the study takes place,

 The study took place in Eswatini

Keywords: country?

 Eswatini

Row 27 internationally?

 A similar trend is also observed in international countries such as the United Stated of America, Brazil, France and Mexico (Bourion-Bedes, Marchand, Boulier, Young, Beltrand, Baumann, & Martrille, 2022; Cohen, 2020; DaViera & Roy, 2020; de Los Santos, 2019; Mukherjee, Taleb, & Baiden, 2022; Silva, Raposo, Barbosa, Menezes, Colares, da Franca, & de Godoy, 2023).

Row 57 a very short compact introduction would be enough, who has conducted research before etc

 Mestry (2015) explored the root causes of school violence with a focus on socio-environmental factors that contribute to violent behaviours among leaners. The findings accentuated the importance of focusing community influences when designing preventative measures against school violence. While other researchers have explored different interventions aimed at reducing and preventing school violence, others have focused on assessing the efficacy of such interventions (Cornell, 2020; Cohen, 2021 & de Los Santos, 2019)

School-based violence preventative strategies

Peer mediation

Bullying prevention

Early intervention: Mentoring and counselling

Discipline as a violence prevention tool

School management and school-based violence

Are introducing for the reader analyzes and solutions for the reoccurring problems when it comes to violence in the schools. Due to this reason, I would invite the author to use these elements in the analyses. From my point of view the analytical sections should include both extracts from the interviews as well as discussion what can be stated based on these interviews and also suggestions how to improve the current circumstances.

These sections are discussed in the literature review section. It is mainly the findings from previous studies. The preventative strategies that came out from our findings are discussed and supported by the participants’ comments. This includes anger management programmes, support groups, psychological interventions and corporal punishment.

 At the moment I find that the text is too much separating the theory, the analyses and the empirical material and they should be interwoven in a more efficient manner. This would also help in reducing the number of sections as now they are so many that it is a confusing read.

The empirical/ literature review has been combine with the theory

I find that the text has all the elements that a scientific text needs, but the structure needs to be reorganized.

The number of sections have been reduced to include the introduction, literature review, methods, results and discussion

 Rows 230-231 is there are city or town or village that could serve as a study context

The name of the city is Mbabane which is the capital city of Eswatini

 Row 242 in which language(s) the interviews were conducted? was it difficult to find informants or was it easy? why was it in this way? how long were the interviews? how they were transliterated? was there some specific set of questions that was used? is there some strengths or weaknesses in the data gathered?

Both semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions were conducted in English and ranged from 45 to 60 minutes. Entry to the site was difficult as the researcher had to travel approximately 10 hours to the data collection site. The interviews took place during work hours therefore the researcher could only get participants during the lunch hour however, the data collected is reflective of the learners and educators’ perspectives within the environment and actual settings where school violence occurs which contributed to contextual relevance and authenticity.

 Row 262 “the researcher remained neutral during the data collection process to avoid issues of bias.” Actually the researcher cannot really remain neutral if she/he is present in the process of the collection process. That is why it is very important to contextualize how exactly the data was collected and tell about it to the readers.

To ensure confirmability, the researcher aimed to maintain objectivity, however subjectivity is inherent in qualitative research. Therefore, during data collection, the researcher recognized their own positionality and served as a facilitator and conducted interviews in a non-directive or leading manner to avoid bias

Row 269 UKZN Ethics Committee what is this?

 University of KwaZulu Natal Ethics Committee

Row 277 The themes that emerged include forms of school violence namely learner on learner violence, teacher on learner violence. Other forms of violence identified include physical fights, verbal abuse and corporal punishment. The factors that contribute to school violence and the strategies to curb violence in schools are also discussed. These themes should be interwoven with theoretical and analytical elements.

 A link has been made between the themes that emerged with theoretical and analytical elements. (Please see track changes in the revised manuscript)

Row 288 in which school?

 Imbabane Central High school

Row 425 maybe to contextualize more and explain where the schools under the study are located

Mbabane is an economic hub of Eswatini including commercial activities, businesses and other instirutions that contributes to the trade and commerce in the country. In addition, Mbabane is also charecterised by limited resources, financial and social inequalities and social disorganization. As a result, the city faces the increasing rates of crime and violence.  

Row 638 in the capital area?

Mbabane is the capital City of Eswatini