Often we know about cases of violence at school that are, above all, physical events (assaults, threats of force, extortion, theft, gang activities…). On the other hand we do not have enough information about the kind of violence that is not punishable by the penal code. In this framework, ProSAVE wants to investigate the kind of violence defined as “social violence” and that can be represented by the following actions: ostracizing or ignoring peers, not inviting them to join groups or activities, spreading lies or rumours, exclusion, isolation, name calling, teasing hurtfully, intimidation, bullying, making verbal or gestural threats, taunting, psychical harassment and molestation, verbal insults… all that can produce victims and often social discrimination.

Continued emotional violence at school can damage both the psychical and mental health of vulnerable children. This can lead to a severe loss of self-esteem, increased anxiety, and difficulty in forming trusting relationships: this can be transformed in sociopathic and/or psychopathic and/or other personality disorders.

In this framework, the ProSAVE project aims at developing a transnational research that investigates the different forms of social violence in school and out of school, and the most prevalent sources associated with the development of violent behaviour. The aim is also to promote the discussion about the social violence at school and to analyze the existing practices on how to prevent this kind of violence and face post-traumatic disorders.