Press and School Violence: Subjective Theories in the Post-Pandemic Narratives in Chilean Online Newspapers

This study examines how the explanations about school violence are constructed in Chilean online newspapers after the country—which had the longest period of school closures—returned to in-person classes. During early 2022, several complaints of school violence surged compared to the lockdown years, prompting questions about how the media shaped public interpretations of this rise. Using a content analysis of three Chilean online newspapers (“SoyChile”, “ElMostrador”, and “LUN”), this study reconstructed the Subjective Theories (STs) conveyed in their coverage. All articles (n = 50) published during three strategic periods of the 2022 school year were analyzed to identify explicit and implicit theories about the causes, intervening conditions, and strategies for addressing school violence. The most prevalent ST framed school violence as a structural problem, appearing 27 times. This narrative portrays the phenomenon as both inevitable and beyond the control of key actors, such as caregivers, teachers, school leaders, authorities, and students, ultimately reducing perceived accountability and agency in prevention or intervention efforts. Media discourse tended to legitimize explanations that locate school violence outside the sphere of individual or institutional responsibility.