Social experience and school bullying

The goal of the present study is to investigate the relationship between school bullying and various aspects of the urban and scholastic environment where participants live, such as sense of community, exposure to dangerous and violent situations within the neighbourhood, perceptions of the safety of the neighbourhood and perceptions of the school environment. The research, performed in Ercolano, a town near Naples, covered the whole of Ercolano's population (n = 734) of 7th, 10th and 13th grade students. Data were analysed using a multivariate analysis of variance. Results showed that bullying role (pure bullies, pure victims, bully victims, not‐involved) is significantly associated with the way subjects perceive their exposure to dangerous and violent situations within the neighbourhood, their relationship with classmates and their relationship with teachers. Pure bullies and bully victims are especially likely to experience dangerous and violent situations in the neighbourhood where they live and have a more negative perception of their relationship with teachers; for pure victims and bully victims, a significant association is obtained with negative perceptions of relationships with classmates. These findings suggest the need for intervention strategies that extend beyond the classroom to the broader community and neighbourhood. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temperament, ADHD and peer relations among schoolchildren: the mediating role of school bullying

The goal of the study is to investigate the link between temperament, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, social preference, bullying and victimization. The study sample consisted of 195 children attending the fourth and fifth grade (age 8-10), their mothers and their teachers. A multiinformant approach was used: mothers were interviewed about the temperament of their children; teachers were asked about ADHD symptoms; children responded to a peer nominations inventory designed to investigate their roles as bullies and/or victims and their social preferences (liked and disliked peers). A Structural Equation Model multigroup analysis (males and females) was used to test the relationships among variables hypothesized by the authors. The analysis showed that temperamental variables have a direct relation to ADHD symptoms, that ADHD has a direct relation to bullying behavior in males and to victimization in females and that bullies and victims are less well accepted than peers who belong to neither category. ADHD has only an indirect relation to social preference through the mediating role of school bullying.     

Accounts of workplace bullying: The role of the organization

In over a decade of research into bullying at work, the focus has been on defining, measuring, and explaining the essential nature of the bullying phenomenon. This focus has positioned the individual as the main unit of analysis, with the organization acting as a facilitating backdrop. By assuming a critical research position as opposed to the dominant positivist tradition from which most of the bullying research emanates, attention can be drawn to additional and marginalized accounts. Our research does not offer a definition of bullying—rather, we examine the implications of the different ways in which the term bullying is used. This paper uses data from a case study in a large telecommunications company's call centres. We demonstrate that while employees use the pathologized individual and the facilitating environment to account for bullying, in addition they use the notion of the pathologized organization. This additional narrative brings issues of power and politics in organizations to the fore. Taking a critical management approach, we focus on employee accounts of the oppressive impact of power structures. We argue that marginalizing certain accounts functions to maintain the organizational power balance. By using the term bullying to describe their work experience, employees in this study sought to employ an emotive and highly charged term to highlight their discontent at increasingly difficult work situations.     

Adolescent mental health in Japan and Russia: The role of body image,bullying victimisation and school environment

This study examined associations between self-reported mental health problems, body image, bullying victimisation and school safety in large adolescent samples in Japan and Russia, considering the effects of gender, culture and their interactions. In both Japan and Russia, girls reported a greater number of mental health problems, less bullying victimisation and much higher body dissatisfaction than boys did. Japanese adolescents rated themselves higher on total difficulties, reported less body dissatisfaction and bullying victimisation, and rated their school safety lower than that of Russian youths. Cross-cultural differences in total difficulties and body image were qualified by gender. Body dissatisfaction, bullying victimisation and school safety all independently contributed to adolescent mental health problems. The protective effect of school safety on total difficulties was larger for girls than for boys; the strength of the association between bullying victimisation and adolescent mental health problems differed across genders and cultures. The findings indicate a need for a cross-cultural approach and provide a strong basis for targeted interventions that seek to improve adolescent mental health.     

The relationship between personality and bullying among primary school children: the mediation role of trait emotion intelligence and empathy

Background/ObjectivesSeveral studies have shown that personality traits are a benchmark in research field of bullying prevention, while others have highlighted that the socio-emotional skills are important to prevent a wide range of maladjusted behaviors, suggesting that the investment in their developing may mediate the effects of personality dispositions. The present study aims to clarify if socio-emotional attitudes can mediate the relationships between personality traits and bullying.MethodsFive sequential mediation models are tested using the Big Five personality traits as focal predictors, bullying as the outcome, and trait emotional intelligence and empathy as causally chained mediators, involving 199 primary school children (8-10 years) through the Bullying Prevalence Questionnaire, the Big Five Questionnaire for children, the Emotional Intelligence Index and the Empathy-Teen Conflict Survey.ResultsData showed that openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were inversely related to bullying, and that the causal chain of TEI-empathy negatively and completely mediated the relationship between emotional instability and bullying and negatively and partially mediated the relationship between openness and bullying.ConclusionsThese results suggest that TEI and empathy mediate the relationship between personality traits and bullying, reducing the risk of being involved in bullying perpetration.     

Moral disengagement in self-reported and peer-nominated school bullying

This study examined the relation between moral disengagement and different self-reported and peer-nominated positions in school bullying. The aims of this study were to (1) investigate moral disengagement among children for whom self-reported and peer-nominated bully status diverged and (2) compare levels of disengagement among self-reported and peer-nominated pure bullies, pure victims, bully-victims, and children not involved in bullying. A sample of 739 Danish sixth grade and seventh grade children (mean age 12.6) was included in the study. Moral disengagement was measured using a Danish version of the Moral Disengagement Scale and bullying was measured using both self-reports and peer nominations. Results revealed that both self-reported and peer-nominated bullying were related to moral disengagement, and that both pure bullies and bully-victims displayed higher moral disengagement than outsiders. Discrepancies between self-reported and peer-nominated bullying involvement indicates that a person's social reputation has a stronger association with moral disengagement than so far expected. Implications are discussed, highlighting the importance of further research and theory development.     

Parenting at home and bullying at school

The present study aimed at examining the relationship that may exist between specific parental practices at home and the child’s bullying and victimization experiences at school. This study attempted to go beyond parental styles, a variable that most of the earlier studies have used and introduce three, relatively new parameters of bullying and victimization; namely, parent–child conflict, parental monitoring and child disclosure. It was found that parenting at home seems to be related to bullying at school. However, not all aspects of parenting are related, and not in the same way. Parent–child conflict was found to be positively correlated to, and a potent predictor of both bullying and victimization; child disclosure was found to be negatively correlated to and also a potent predictor of bullying (not victimization), while parental monitoring, unlike earlier reports, was found to be statistically unrelated to either bullying or victimization.     

Appraisal and coping strategy use in victims of school bullying

Background: Transactional models of coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) can contribute to our understanding of why some children cope effectively with bullying while others suffer negative outcomes. However, previous research has relied on coping measures that are not comparable with adult measures, restricting investigation of developmental trends. Additionally, previous research has not included appraisals when measuring coping using an established coping measure. Aims: To examine the factor structure of a coping measure that is directly comparable with the adult literature; to examine the content of pupils' threat and challenge appraisals concerning bullying; and to examine the relationships between appraisals and coping strategy use within the victims of school bullying. Sample: Participants were 459 children aged 9 — 14 years. Method: A self‐report bullying questionnaire, incorporating Halstead et al.'s (1993) adolescent version of the Ways of Coping Checklist, was completed by participants. Also included were control, threat and challenge appraisal items. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that Halstead et al.'s four‐factor model of coping is valid for a population of school bullying victims. Content validity of items used to measure threat and challenge appraisal was demonstrated. Ambiguity of challenge appraisal influenced the use of Wishful Thinking, Seeks Social Support and Problem Focused coping. Wishful Thinking was also influenced by control appraisal. Avoidance coping was not influenced by the appraisals measured. Conclusion: Halstead et al.'s Revised Ways of Coping Checklist can be used to measure coping amongst child and adolescent victims of bullying. Furthermore, including appraisal variables improves our understanding of individual differences between victims' coping strategy choices.     

Dimensions of empathy and bystander intervention in bullying in elementary school

The current study investigated associations among cognitive empathy, affective empathy, internalizing problems, and the five steps of the bystander intervention model (notice bullying events, interpret as an event requiring intervention, accept responsibility for intervening, know how to intervene, and act). Participants included 336 fourth and fifth grade students (58.9% boys) at a school in the Midwest region of the United States. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that greater cognitive empathy was related to noticing bullying events, accepting responsibility to intervene, and knowing how to intervene. Affective empathy was significantly related to the actual act of intervention. Further, significant interactions revealed that affective empathy was positively associated with interpreting bullying as an event that required intervention at low and moderate levels of internalizing problems, but not at high levels of internalizing problems. Overall these findings underscore the need to examine the decision to intervene as the culmination of a series of steps as outlined in the bystander intervention model, with each step potentially influenced by a unique set of precursors.     

The relevance of the school class as social unit for the prevalence of bullying and victimization

Prevalence rates of bullying and victimization in schools are usually reported for the whole sample under study and not at a school-class level. The importance of classroom dynamics for the prevalence of bullying and victimization are either neglected or assumed to be constant mechanisms activated in nearly every school class. At a school-class level, similar prevalence rates of bullying and victimization are expected. The present study investigates whether this assumption is true, or whether bullying varies from class to class. For data analyses, information from four studies on bullying and victimization are used. In sum, rates of bullying and victimization were analysed in 86 different school classes (1910 pupils, grades 4 to 9). Results show a tremendous variability in the occurrence of bullying and victimization between school classes ranging between 0 and 54.5%. Thus, there exist very peaceful and very violent school classes. These differences are shown for various bullying forms (verbal vs. physical), methods of measurement (self-assessment vs. peer-nomination) and frames of reference (this week vs. this term). Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The role of bystanders in students' perception of bullying and sense of safety

Two studies employing a mixed experimental design were conducted to determine if perceptions of bullying, attitudes towards victims, and students' sense of safety at school were influenced by bystanders' reactions to different types of bullying. In Study 1, 217 middle-school children were randomly assigned to read a hypothetical scenario describing a direct bullying episode. In Study 2, 376 primary-school children and 390 middle-school children were presented with scenarios describing a direct bullying episode and an indirect bullying episode. In all scenarios, the bystanders' reactions to the bullying and the gender of the victim were manipulated. Participants endorsed the prosocial behavior in favor of the victims and did not endorse pro-bullying behavior. Furthermore, they perceived passive reactions to the bullying as negative behavior. Participants showed positive attitudes towards victims, which were significantly higher at younger grade levels and among girls. Bystanders' behavior influenced both participants' perceptions of the victims and their perceived sense of safety at school. Implications for anti-bullying programs based upon the group ecology are discussed.     

Prevention of school bullying: The important role of autonomy‐supportive teaching and internalization of pro‐social values

Background. This study examined students’ perceptions of autonomy‐supportive teaching (AST) and its relations to internalization of pro‐social values and bullying in class. Aims. We hypothesized that: (1) teachers’ AST, which involves provision of rationale and taking the student's perspective, would relate positively to students’ identified internalization of considerateness towards classmates, and would relate negatively to external regulation (considerateness to obtain rewards or avoid punishments); (2) students’ identified regulation would relate negatively to self‐reported bullying in class, whereas external regulation would relate positively to bullying; and (3) the relation between teachers’ AST and student bullying would be mediated by students’ identification with the value of considerateness towards others. Sample. The sample consisted of 725 junior high school students (50% females) in Grades 7 and 8 from 27 classes in four schools serving students from lower‐middle to middle‐class socioeconomic backgrounds. Method. The participants completed questionnaires assessing the variables of interest. Results. Correlational analysis supported the hypotheses. Moreover, mediational analyses using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) demonstrated that identified regulation mediates the negative relation between AST and self‐reported bullying in class. The mediational hypothesis was supported at the between‐class level and at the within‐class level. Conclusions. The findings suggest that school policy aimed at bullying reduction should go beyond external control that involves external rewards and sanctions and should help teachers acquire autonomy‐supportive practices focusing on students’ meaningful internalization.     

Prevalence estimation of school bullying with the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire

The key aim of the present research was to study the “functionality” of two global variables in the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire and to examine the appropriateness of different cutoff points of these variables for prevalence estimation. Several empirical and conceptual analyses strongly attested to the functionality of the two selected variables in terms of construct validity and selected measurement properties. Similarly, a number of analyses indicated that (having been bullied/having bullied other students) “2 or 3 times a month” was a reasonable and useful lower‐bound cutoff point. With this cutoff point, “involved” students, victims, and bullies differed very markedly and in clearly different ways from “non‐involved” students in conceptually related variables. Prevalence estimates derived in this way can be conveniently obtained, have a reasonably well‐defined meaning, can be easily understood by users, and can be reproduced unambiguously by different researchers/administrators and at different times. An important background for the article is the fact that several common methods, including peer nominations, are not well suited for prevalence estimation. Prevalence data for victims, bullies, and bully‐victims are also presented. All data were derived from the New Bergen Project Against Bullying, comprising a sample of 5,171 students from 37 schools in the town community of Bergen, Norway. At the time of the data collection, the spring of 1997, the 2,544 girls and 2,627 boys were in grades 5 through 9, with modal ages of 11 through 15 years. Aggr. Behav. 29:239–268, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Secondary school pupils’ views of their school peer counselling for bullying service

Pupils (n=99) from two secondary schools in the UK were interviewed to investigate their views and experiences of the peer counselling for bullying service set up in their school. They were asked about various things concerning (1) the characteristics of the service and service providers that they valued and (2) their reasons for not using the service. Overall, a majority of participants reported a willingness to use this type of service and they identified numerous characteristics that they valued, including peer counsellors with good listening skills who were trustworthy and maintained confidentiality. A noteworthy proportion of participants also wanted the service to provide advice on solving bullying‐related problems. Some barriers to using the service were also identified, including fear of being stigmatised. Responses offered by girls and boys, and by users and non‐users of the service, were compared and several significant differences emerged. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for adults who run this type of service and the peer counsellors who deliver it.     

A lost horizon: the experience of an other and school bullying

To date, research on bullying has largely employed empirical methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative approaches. Through this research we have come to understand bullying as both a dyadic and peer group phenomenon, primarily situated in the heads (thinking) of those involved, or in a lack of skill or expertise, or in the delinquency of a bully who needs to be reformed. This research has largely directed its strategies toward problem students using individual and peer group approaches. And yet school bullying continues to be a crucial educational issue affecting millions of students each year. In this project I introduce a missing philosophical perspective. Analyzing the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer I am led to conclude that typical anti-bullying strategies at times simply train bullies to be better at bullying (i.e., learning to bully more covertly, more expertly so as to inflict the same devastation without adult detection). Gadamer invites us to think about bullying in new ways. While certainly involving the thinking and skills of the bully and the victim, Gadamer contends that bullying does not fundamentally result from a problem within the participants, but is fostered by certain spaces between them; terrains that cultivate specific experiences of an "other". Generally, this project stems from an interest in the ways that domination develops in this "space between". Specifically in this paper I ask: What is the nature of "hermeneutic" experience as conceptualized by Gadamer? What kinds of experiences of an other does bullying exemplify? What kinds of experience of an other do non-bullying relations exemplify and what kinds of relational spaces foster such experience? This paper opens up significant new territory for anti-bullying work, expanding our focus to include the space between students which fosters certain inter-personal experiences - experiences situated in domination and stymied growth or, alternatively, experiences of reciprocity which open the possibility of human growth and transformation.     

班级欺凌规范与欺凌行为：群体害怕与同辈压力的中介作用

本文通过两个研究探讨了群体因素中的班级欺凌规范如何通过同辈压力、群体害怕影响欺凌行为的发生。研究1为实验研究, 被试为186名小学高年级学生(M_age = 11.36 ± 0.99岁)。结果表明在不同情境(欺凌/非欺凌)的启动下, 各变量得分均具有显著差异; 进一步分析仅发现同辈压力的中介作用边缘显著。研究2为相关研究, 943名小学高年级及初二学生(M_age = 12.00 ± 1.32岁)填写班级欺凌规范、同辈压力和欺凌行为问卷。HLM分析显示同辈压力在班级欺凌规范与欺凌行为起显著中介作用。