The organizational trust of
elementary schools and
dimensions of student bullying
Page A. Smith
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA, and
Larry L. Birney
San Antonio Police Department, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Purpose – This research aims to analyse student bullying and faculty trust in elementary schools in
the state of Texas.
Design/methodology/approach – Two dimensions of school bullying (teacher protection and
student bullying) and three aspects of faculty trust (in clients, colleagues and the principal) were
Findings – In general, the better the organizational trust of a school, the less student bullying. In
addition, the greater degree of faculty trust in a school, the more teacher protection was evident.
However, as predicted, different dimensions of faculty trust were more or less important in affecting
the aspects of student bullying. In addition, two simple and parsimonious research instruments
designed to measure salient organizational characteristics are identiﬁed.
Research limitations/implications – This study represents an addition to the extant literature on
bullying in schools; particularly the relationship between organizational trust and school bullying. It,
however, represents a beginning and not an end to the examination of school bullying and trust. Hence,
questions remain. For example, what are the institutional mechanisms that foster school trust? To what
extent does each of the aspects of trust examined in this study relate to school bullying as perceived by
students? To what extent is the collective efﬁcacy of the faculty related to school bullying? Does faculty
gender inﬂuence teacher perceptions of organizational trust and school bullying?
Practical implications – One of the more important ﬁndings of this study was that teacher trust in
the principal did not play an important role in encouraging staff to protect students from their peers.
The current research reafﬁrms the need for principals to assume an active role in ensuring that
teachers do not disassociate themselves from attempts to monitor, regulate and conﬁrm incidents of
Originality/value – This study provides further groundwork to assist school administrators in
identifying other areas sensitive to school-based aggression and trust issues such as after school
events, extracurricular activities and parent-teacher interactions.
Keywords Bullying, Trust, Students, Schools, Violence, United States of America
Paper type Research paper
In recent years, a marked increase in incidents of student aggression and campus
violence has occurred in schools (Hoover et al., 1992; Nansel and Overpeck, 2001; US
Secret Service, 2000). Prompted by the media’s attention to these events, scholars have
increasingly focused their interests on the importance of student safety in learning
environments. Moreover, recent research has targeted the deleterious effects of student
confrontations and bullying in schools. For example, 269 students, teachers, and
support personnel in the USA died in school-related violence between September 1992
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International Journal of Educational
Vol. 19 No. 6, 2005
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited