The Ecology of Teachers’ Experiences with Violence and Lack of Administrative Support Susan D. McMahon, Samantha Reaves, Elizabeth A. McConnell, Eric Peist, Linda Ruiz, and the APA Task Force on Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers Highlights • Teacher-directed violence is a significant problem in schools. • Lack of support from administrators was one of teachers’ most upsetting experiences. • An ecological framework was used to examine lack of administrative support across multiple levels. • Implications for research, practice, and policy are provided to improve administrative support. © Society for Community Research and Action 2017 Abstract Teacher-directed violence is a common, yet understudied, phenomenon. Perpetrators of violence against teachers include not just students, but also administrators, parents, and colleagues. Administrators are key stakeholders when it comes to shaping school climate and safety that can reduce or increase the negative impact of violence against teachers. In this study, 237 teachers’ qualitative responses from a larger sample of 2,431 anonymous, online survey responses were examined to better understand their experiences with incidents of violence and how administrators played a role in these experiences. Results reveal that lack of administrator support negatively impacts teachers at multiple levels, including teachers’ feelings (individual); challenges associated with addressing issues related to students, parents, and other perpetrators (interpersonal); and school systems and policies (organizational). This study highlights the importance of administrative support and illustrates how administrators’ actions and inactions can have ripple effects at each level of the school microcosm. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed. Keywords Teacher victimization  Administrators  Support  School climate  School violence  Social– ecological theory Introduction School violence affects all stakeholders within the school community, but research has focused on students as vic- tims and perpetrators. While student victimization is a significant problem, teacher-directed violence is a critical and under-researched concern that has yet to be consis- tently defined. In general, it refers to a range of behav- iors directed toward educators that include bullying and intimidation, verbal threats, theft, and physical attacks, which violate school rules, negatively affect school cli- mate, and endanger the well-being of those involved in the school (Espelage et al., 2013). In a United States national survey of K-12 teachers across 48 states, 80% of teachers reported being victimized at least once in the current or past school year (McMahon et al., 2014). The negative impact of school violence on teachers is also a significant concern globally: large-scale studies in South Korea (Moon, Morash, Jang & Jeong, 2015), Canada (Wilson, Douglas & Lyon, 2011), Israel (Khoury-kas- sabri, Astor & Benbenishty, 2009), and Slovakia (Dzuka & Dalbert, 2007) document high prevalence of violence and links between violence and teachers’ emotional and behavioral functioning. Victimized teachers experience decreased physical and emotional well-being, life satis- faction, and teaching performance (Dzuka & Dalbert, 2007; Moon et al., 2015; Wilson et al., 2011), and increased fearfulness and stress (Dworkin, Haney & Telschow, 1988). Given the prevalence and negative impact of violence directed against teachers, research is needed to better understand teacher experiences with violence. ✉ Susan D. McMahon smcmahon@depaul.edu DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA Am J Community Psychol (2017) 60:502–515 DOI 10.1002/ajcp.12202 ORIGINAL ARTICLE