This study identified the prevalence of students who are victims of physical punishment by school staff in Brazil, and verified relations to demographic data, depression and school engagement. 396 students of two public schools answered the School Violence Prevalence Investigation Questionnaire, the Child Depression Inventory and the School Engagement Scale. Totally, 21 students were physically beaten by school staff. There were significant differences between the group of students victims of physical aggression (AFF) and the students that were not victims (NAFF): the former had a higher proportion of female students, students with violent peers, students victims of colleagues, and a higher rates of depression. There were not statistical differences between the groups in respect of gender, age, school background, school failure and school engagement. It is supposed that the student AFF has violent behaviors with peers and school staff and, therefore, which would lead him to continue being aggressive with others. This hypothesis should be investigated in future studies.
Corporal punishment; violence in school; violence by school staff; child abuse
