VIOLENT MASCULINITIES IN BOTSWANA SCHOOLS: A CASE OF THREE SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

This paper examines the connection between violence, dominant construction of masculinities and gender
identities, drawing on a study conducted in three senior secondary schools in Botswana. Nine teachers were
interviewed about their experiences of school violence. Violence in these school resulted in massive
infrastructure destruction and loss of lives and sights. The study found that violence is an important signifier
of masculinity hence male students actively enacts it. Findings from the study suggest that circumstances
leading to violence in schools vary from one school to the other, but violence in all the sampled schools
stemmed from issues pertaining to gender and power relations.