The Causes and Preventive Measures of Student Brawls among Vocational Education Students in Bangkok and its Surrounding Areas
Main Article Content
Abstract
Student violence in vocational education institutions represents a persistent problem in Thailand's urban areas, with incidents increasing 23% between 2020-2023 in Bangkok Metropolitan Region. This study investigated causes of student violence and stakeholder-recommended prevention strategies among vocational education students in Bangkok and nearby provinces. A qualitative interview study was conducted with 25 stakeholders across six groups (school administrators, alumni, police officers, parents, community members, students) using semi-structured interviews. Data were collected April-May 2024 in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, and Pathum Thani provinces. Content analysis using NVivo 14 identified themes with inter-coder reliability κ=0.85. Ethics approval was obtained from North Bangkok University (Protocol RS 1/2567)
Twelve interconnected factors emerged: family dysfunction and inadequate supervision, institutional identity conflicts, media influence normalizing violence, developmental psychology vulnerabilities, peer pressure and group loyalty demands, legal system inadequacies, substance abuse effects, negative student mindsets, hierarchical senior-junior systems, economic pressures, political group influences, and systemic coordination failures. Student violence results from complex interactions across individual, family, institutional, and community levels rather than single causes. Prevention requires comprehensive approaches addressing multiple ecological levels simultaneously through family support, institutional cooperation, media responsibility, and policy coordination.
Highlights
Family dysfunction, institutional rivalry, and peer pressure emerged as primary causes of vocational student violence based on interviews with 25 stakeholders across Bangkok and nearby provinces.
Inadequate parental supervision and economic stress create vulnerability to peer group recruitment for violent activities, as reported by parents and school administrators.
Strong institutional identity and symbolic competition drive inter-school conflicts, with alumni describing obligations to “defend school honor”.
Media sensationalization and social media amplification normalize violence and escalate minor disputes into serious confrontations.
Comprehensive prevention requires coordinated family support, institutional cooperation, community engagement, and policy reform targeting multiple causal levels simultaneously.
Article Details
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Copyright: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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