Teachers who bully students

Lots of kids are bullied at school, but apparently many of the bullies may be their teachers. In a new psychiatric study, 116 elementary school teachers were surveyed about bullying. Nearly half of them admitted that they bully students. The researchers from the Menninger Clinic, published the results of the study in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry. From the paper abstract:

Results confirmed that teachers who experienced bullying themselves when young are more likely to both bully students and experience bullying by students both in classrooms and outside the classroom. Factor analysis revealed two types of bullying teacher: a sadistic bully type and a bully-victim type.

And from a Menninger Clinic press release:

"If your early experiences lead you to expect that people will not reason, but respond to force, then you are at risk of recreating this situation in your classroom," says (co-author Dr. Peter) Fonagy. "The climate you remember from your childhood may even make you feel safe because it is familiar and consistent with your expectations."

Link to press release, Link to paper abstract