Literature and Aesthetic Reading as Means of Promoting Nonviolence

In an increasingly violent world, reading literary works and the teaching of literature in school may play an important part in shaping students' personality as human beings. Turning literature classes into an effective way of cultivating ethical values in learners should be an educational goal of the curriculum irrespective of the level of study. Starting from the data provided by a focus group organized with Philology students within the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, the present chapter aims to highlight how literature classes may increase their moral awareness and develop their ethical skills. More precisely, the study investigates students' perceptions of literature and its role in developing mutual respect and non-violent behavior inside and outside the academic environment.

On Restraining the Feeling of Self-Efficacy in the Academic Environment

The aim of the study is to help reduce institutional violence in universities by presenting its origins and manifestations, by explaining how they affect the needs of self-realization and individual progress, by providing solutions—viable, we believe—to eradicate this phenomenon. In this respect, the study will be devoted to a deeper diagnostic analysis which would lead to achieving a comprehensive and explicit picture of the causes of institutional violence at academic level and of the specific forms of expression it takes. The following issues will be addressed: institutional dysfunctions; living and working conditions of the main actors in the academic environment; the duplicitous role of the educational institution; university's helplessness, as a core of educational lofty ideals, to voice these ideals and fulfil them.

Psychological Well-Being, Self-Concept, and Couple Relations in University Students

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the psychological well-being of university students, their self-concept and certain behaviours and attitudes of violence in couple relationships by gender and cultural group (European vs. Amazigh) as well as to determine the relationship amongst the three constructs evaluated. For it, 100 university students of the University Campus of Melilla, Spain, participated in the research. The Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS), the Test of Self-Concept Form 5 (AF-5), and the Dating Violence Questionnaire (DVQ) were the instruments used for the data collection. Main results showed differences by gender on the Degree of distress experienced by the presence of violent behaviours and attitudes in couple relationships, the Academic/Professional Self-concept and Self-Esteem. Regarding cultural group, differences were showed on the Couple Relationships Scale of PWBS. In addition, different correlations were found. Finally, the need to address the elements analyzed at the university context is discussed.

Nurturing Compassion-Based Empathy

In the last decade, the emergence of violence has been since visible among the youth in school and even in higher education (HE). The number is various forms such as bullying, cyber bullying and even bullying victimization. It can be seen that forms of instance reported are many violence which refers to the perpetration among the school aged students. This paper aims to examine the problems on violence at any forms to propose a model to solve the knowledge set of compassionate based empathy. The findings reveal that the series of feeling mindful of self and social empathy should be developed to enhance the awareness with the ability to interact and care among HE. Providing the framework for the current issue of impending futile effort in terms of caring for terminal patients, nurturing compassionate based empathy could be one of the sources to assist the knowledge on the instructional design and assessment through best practice to improve the social and self-empathy awareness with compassion in HE.

The Impact of Academic Stress on Students' Performance

Studies conducted in recent years throughout the world have shown that people are growingly more exposed to stress, its level increasing dramatically over time. Thus, stress has been identified as one of the major scourges of our modern era. It seems that not only adults but also children are affected; pupils and students are also experiencing stressful life situations that can be harmful to their overall condition and health. The transition from pre-academic to academic education, the need to adapt to independent living, to gain insight into new social networks, to comply with high academic requirements constitute potential stressors that may affect the performance of students. Considering all these issues a comprehensive assessment of stress is required, from the perspective of the authors in the field, from analyzing the views of students in the research group and from formulating a personal opinion which can support the effort to reduce stress using coping strategies so that the academic environment to become a pleasant place for students.

Cyber-Aggression in Higher Education

Emerging adults are actively engaged in a digital world in which blogs, social networking sites, watching videos, and instant messaging are a typical part of their daily lives. Their immersion in the digital world has occurred for as long as many of them can remember, with many not knowing a world without our modern technological advances. Although the digital age has brought us many conveniences in our daily lives, there is a darker side to emerging adults' involvement with these technologies, such as cyber aggression involvement. This chapter draws on research from around the world, utilizing a variety of research designs, to describe the nature, extent, and consequences associated with emerging adults' involvement in cyber aggression. Concluding the chapter is a solutions and recommendation section in which various recommendations are given to help colleges and universities strive to reduce cyber aggression on their campuses among their students.

Stress and Violence in the Academic Space

The study deals with the diversity of the values of the connections that appear between stress and violence in the academic social environment in the context of the research in the field, of the specialized literature, of the psychological and pedagogical semantics and pragmatics. The configuration of the study is a multiple one: definitions and terminological connections, authorities that have roles in the psycho- academic counseling, factors, contexts and risk situations with stress generative potential, behavior with violent potential. It has been identified and examined a rich set of group or psycho individual social, institutional factors, such as group conflicts, asymmetrical interrelationships, motivations of risk, explanatory mechanisms, and situations with reductive, tense release potential. The model of the approach is also defined by methodological- empirical explorations, syntheses, and statistical results which are useful for the community of the university actors. The study ends with proposals and suggestions of analysis and psycho-socio/ pedagogical intervention.

Empathetic and Collaborative Climate in the Classroom

Educational institutions are complex and uncertain organizations, living situations and relationships of interaction based on reflection, collaboration and achieve valuable educational goals, but sometimes such relationships become distressed, generating aggression, tension and mistrust that prevent the consolidation of a climate of emotional harmony, empathy and understanding between people of school. This chapter aims to answer the following questions: What kind of relationships should be built in order to build a climate of harmony, empathy and full coexistence among all members of the classroom? Theoretical basis for identifying protective factors, to work the most appropriate climate of empathy in the classroom that stresses the importance of clear rules, enthusiasm and emotional balance, as well as a real involvement of the entire educational community against processes and factors such as harassment, exhibit aggressive behavior, lack of supervision, etc., all of them understood as risks.

The Benefits of Peer Tutoring and Peer Mentoring in University

This chapter presents the results of a review of research about peer tutoring and peer mentoring in higher education oriented by two fundamental aims. The first of them, deepen and clarify from the conceptual point of view the peer tutoring and the peer mentoring in the university context and, in second place, to explore and evidence the benefits and the impact that these support modalities has in the light of the results of international investigations. The results show that the benefits of peer collaboration focus on two horizons: academic achievement and human-social development. An integrated approach is needed, for its greater impact for the university student. Finally, some conclusions and some guidelines for future research are proposed.

Education for a Culturally Hybrid World

In an international context of increased heterogeneity, education such as that offered by higher education institutions is very unlikely to help manage the cultural clash and prevent violence. If academic curricula exclusively aim at developing professional competences, the students' adaptation to societies characterized by frequent cultural commingling and encounter is almost impossible to happen. In the absence of intercultural competence, the conflict between cultures is imminent. In this chapter, we attempt to show that through teaching literature, contemporary fiction in particular, by using the reading grid provided by intercultural communication, it is possible to offer students the knowledge, skills and attitudes that would make them more competent intercultural communicators, willing to acknowledge difference and value diversity.