A Social Disorganization Perspective on Bullying-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: The Influence of School Context

Social disorganization theory suggests that certain school-level indictors of disorder may be important predictors of bullying-related attitudes and behaviors. Multilevel analyses were conducted on bullying-related attitudes and experiences among 22,178 students in 95 elementary and middle schools. The intraclass correlation coefficients indicated that 0.6–2% of the variance in victimization, 5–10% of the variance in retaliatory attitudes, 5–6% of the variance in perceptions of safety, and 0.9% of the variance in perpetration of bullying was associated with the clustering of students within schools. Although the specific associations varied somewhat for elementary schools as compared to middle schools, the hierarchical linear modeling analyses generally suggested that school-level indicators of disorder (e.g., student–teacher ratio, concentration of student poverty, suspension rate, and student mobility) were significant predictors of bullying-related attitudes and experiences. Student-level characteristics (i.e., sex, ethnicity, status in school) were also relevant to students’ retaliatory attitudes, perceptions of safety, and involvement in bullying. Implications for school-based research and violence prevention are provided.     

Socio‐economic,socio‐political and socio‐emotional variables explaining school bullying: a country‐wide multilevel analysis

Why do some countries, regions and schools have more bullying than others? What socio‐economic, socio‐political and other larger contextual factors predict school bullying? These open questions inspired this study with 53.316 5th‐ and 9th‐grade students (5% of the national student population in these grades), from 1,000 schools in Colombia. Students completed a national test of citizenship competencies, which included questions about bullying and about families, neighborhoods and their own socio‐emotional competencies. We combined these data with community violence and socio‐economic conditions of all Colombian municipalities, which allowed us to conduct multilevel analyses to identify municipality‐ and school‐level variables predicting school bullying. Most variance was found at the school level. Higher levels of school bullying were related to more males in the schools, lower levels of empathy, more authoritarian and violent families, higher levels of community violence, better socio‐economic conditions, hostile attributional biases and more beliefs supporting aggression. These results might reflect student, classroom and school contributions because student‐level variables were aggregated at the school level. Although in small portions, violence from the decades‐old‐armed conflict among guerrillas, paramilitaries and governmental forces predicted school bullying at the municipal level for 5th graders. For 9th graders, inequality in land ownership predicted school bullying. Neither poverty, nor population density or homicide rates contributed to explaining bullying. These results may help us advance toward understanding how the larger context relates to school bullying, and what socio‐emotional competencies may help us prevent the negative effects of a violent and unequal environment. Aggr. Behav. 35:520–529, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Early adolescent health risk behaviors, conflict resolution strategies, and school climate

Drawing upon an ethnically and socio-economically diverse sample of 323 7th grade students from twelve urban schools within one school district, this mixed method study examined early adolescents' self-reported health risk behaviors as related to their conflict resolution strategies and their school's conflict resolution climate. Survey data suggested that early adolescents who reported using more cooperative and fewer aggressive conflict resolution strategies also reported to engage in fewer personal health risk behaviors. Reported engagement in fewer behavioral risks also was associated with attending schools with more supportive “conflict resolution climates.” Serial small group interviews in selected schools indicated that conflict resolution climate quality was associated with how well teachers were perceived to respond to students' conflicts and how they managed teacher–student conflicts. In addition, many students in less supportive climates exhibited cynical attitudes regarding the viability of the conflict resolution strategies promoted by schools and prevention programs.     

Risk and protective factors at school: Reducing bullies and promoting positive bystanders' behaviors in adolescence

Identifying protective factors present at schools located in neighborhoods with high structural violence is fundamental to help prevent the perpetuation of violence . Therefore, the aim of this study was to observe how some school micro‐system variables, such as school environment and interpersonal relationships that adults establish with adolescents, may lead to bullying behaviors or, on the contrary, to positive bystander behavior in the bully‐victim dynamic. The sample was composed of 5,774 adolescents from 71 schools located in violent neighborhoods in Lima (Peru). 31.9 per cent of the sample experienced verbal violence and the prevalence of cyberbullying was 24.6%. Boys were more prone to experience both types of bullying than girls, although no differences were seen in the probability of becoming aggressors during early and late adolescence. The protective model showed that a positive atmosphere based on a supportive environment with clear rules encouraged adults at school to show more support and to provide more orientation in bullying situations, thus promoting a positive bystander behavior between peers. Opposite results were observed in the risk model. Actions at the micro‐system school level are discussed to enhance protective factors and reduce risk factors.     

Profiles of Student Perceptions of School Climate: Relations with Risk Behaviors and Academic Outcomes

School climate has been linked to a variety of positive student outcomes, but there may be important within‐school differences among students in their experiences of school climate. This study examined within‐school heterogeneity among 47,631 high school student ratings of their school climate through multilevel latent class modeling. Student profiles across 323 schools were generated on the basis of multiple indicators of school climate: disciplinary structure, academic expectations, student willingness to seek help, respect for students, affective and cognitive engagement, prevalence of teasing and bullying, general victimization, bullying victimization, and bullying perpetration. Analyses identified four meaningfully different student profile types that were labeled positive climate, medium climate‐low bullying, medium climate‐high bullying, and negative climate. Contrasts among these profile types on external criteria revealed meaningful differences for race, grade‐level, parent education level, educational aspirations, and frequency of risk behaviors.     

Social-Psychological Factors Associated with Bullying Behaviour among Secondary School Students

This study investigated the association between social-psychological factors (misconduct, impulsivity, school sense of belonging, intention to use non-violent strategies, beliefs supportive of violence) and bullying behaviour. A total of two-hundred and fifteen (n=215) secondary school students randomly selected from five secondary schools in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State participated in the study (boys =106, or 49.30%) and girls n=109 or 50.70%; age ranges = 16 to 22 years, mean = 19 years, SD= 3.19 years). The participants completed measures of misconduct, impulsivity, school sense of belonging, intention to use non-violent strategies, beliefs supportive of violence and bullying behaviour. Demographics data of the participants were also obtained. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that misconduct is the most important correlate of bullying behaviour. Pro-aggression behaviours explained bullying behaviour, intention to use non-violent strategies, beliefs supportive of violence, impulsivity and school sense of belonging also significantly explained lower bullying behaviour.     

学生感知的教师欺凌态度与学生欺凌行为的关系——学生欺凌态度的中介作用及其性别的调节作用

校园欺凌严重影响青少年身心的健康发展,教师是预防和干预校园欺凌的重要力量。本研究拟在考察学生感知的教师欺凌态度与学生欺凌行为关系的基础上,探究学生欺凌态度的中介效应以及性别的调节作用。本研究采用《校园欺凌量表》、《学生欺凌态度量表》以及《学生感知的教师欺凌态度量表》对来自北京市两所初中的698名初一和初二学生进行测查。结果显示:(1)初中男生总体及不同类型的欺凌行为及其欺凌态度均显著高于女生,而女生所感知的教师欺凌严重性态度则显著高于男生;(2)学生感知的教师欺凌严重性态度显著负向预测学生欺凌行为;(3)学生欺凌态度在学生感知的教师欺凌态度和学生欺凌行为之间起部分中介作用;(4)学生欺凌态度的中介效应存在显著性别差异,男生欺凌态度为部分中介作用,而女生欺凌态度为完全中介作用。     

Bullying among Australian school children: reported behavior and attitudes toward victims.

The extent of bullying among Australian school children and attitudes toward victims of bullying were investigated in a survey of Australian school children between the ages of 6 and 16 years (n = 685) and their teachers (n = 32). Approximately 1 child in 10 was subjected to peer group bullying. Boys reported being bullied more often than girls, who tended to be more supportive of victims. With increasing age, there was a slight but significant decline in reported bullying; notably, however, attitudes toward victims became less supportive. Attitudes toward victims were examined in detail by using a reliable and validated 20-item Likert scale. Factor analyses of the children's responses yielded three interpretable factors: a tendency to despise the victims of bullies; general admiration for school bullies; and avowed support for intervention to assist the victim. An understanding of such attitudes is desirable for designing effective intervention programs.     

The Contributions of Community, Family, and School Variables to Student Victimization

An ecological perspective was used to predict school violence from a number of variables describing the students and their families based on nationally representative sample of 10,400 students in grades 7–11 in 162 schools across Israel. Self-administered anonymous questionnaires that included a scale for reporting victimization by serious and moderate physical violence, threats, and verbal–social victimization were filled out during class. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) examined the relationships between students reports of victimization and student level variables (gender, age) and the school-level variables—cultural affiliation (Jewish vs. Arab), the socio-economic status (SES) of the schools neighborhood and students families, school and class size, school level (junior high vs. high), and school climate. Variance between schools accounted for 9–15% of the variance in student victimization (major factors being school climate characteristics and percent of boys at the school). Boys reported higher victimization than girls for all forms of school violence. Students in junior high schools reported more victimization than high school students. Higher levels of victimization were reported in overcrowded classes, while school size was not associated with students reports of victimization. Although there were almost no differences between Jewish and Arab schools in students reports of victimization, the SES of the schools neighborhood and students did have a moderate effect. The discussion highlights the importance of improving school climate and the need to allocate more resources to schools in low SES contexts in order to protect students from school violence.     

Facilitators and barriers to the implementation of motivational interviewing for bullying perpetration in school settings

Bullying is a perplexing and persistent problem with negative consequences for all involved. Schools are assigned considerable responsibility for the management of bullying because of its prevalence amongst youth. Despite considerable efforts over decades to curtail bullying through the use of anti-bullying policies and other school-based interventions, the rates of young people who frequently bully has not decreased significantly. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a relational and affirming conversational method that strengthens an individual's motivation and commitment to change, overcoming ambivalence toward the problem. The aim of the current study was to provide preliminary insight into the feasibility of incorporating MI into student service repertoires for addressing bullying. Ten staff participants from six secondary schools, who had roles in bullying intervention within their respective schools, were offered training in MI and invited to use and monitor this method in their practice as an intervention for students who perpetrate bullying. Results indicated a number factors which influenced the uptake of MI in schools. Facilitators enabling the use of MI included practitioner's professional background, administrative support, training and implementation of MI. Barriers to the use of MI included time pressure and administrative expectations, school roles and system limitations, and preconceptions and the stigma of bullying.     

School violence and teacher professional disengagement

Background. Most studies of school violence have focused on students. Consequently, precursors and consequences of violence experienced by teachers are less well documented. Previous research indicates that (a) verbal victimization, student misbehaviour and perceived violence at school impair teacher emotional well‐being, (b) support from principal and colleagues reduces these difficulties and fosters well‐being, (c) well‐being impacts on professional involvement. However, it is still not clear how those variables relate to each other. Aims. To test and compare – through structural equation modelling – two models of the relationships between perceived school support, exposure to school violence, subjective well‐being and professional disengagement. To test – through multigroup analysis – the buffering effect of school support between school violence and well‐being. Sample. Participants in this study were 487 French‐speaking teachers (57% female) randomly selected from 24 secondary schools in Belgium. Method. Participants completed a questionnaire on school leadership, relationships with colleagues, verbal victimization, students' misbehaviour, perceived violence, depression, somatization, anxiety and professional disengagement. Results. The results support a model in which perceived school support has a direct effect on exposure to school violence, subjective well‐being and professional disengagement, while the effect of school violence on disengagement is totally mediated by well‐being. No evidence of a moderating effect of school support was found. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that the negative emotional impact of some forms of school violence could be an important factor in a teacher's intention to leave, and that school support could be even more important for both teacher emotional well‐being and professional disengagement.     

Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Bullying in Middle School Youth

ABSTRACT

We examined middle school students' attitudes and perceptions of bullying during their middle school years. Participants were categorized along the bully/victim continuum as bullies, victims, bully-victims, and no-status students based on their self-nomination from a survey that queries students about their experiences with bullying (either as a bully, victim, or both), their observations of bullying, and their attitudes toward bullying. The majority of participants were classified as bullies, victims, and bully-victims as 70% of the participants reported involvement with bullying and/or victimization during their middle school years. Participants' perceptions about bullying and attitudes toward bullying were examined at three points in time. Participants' attitudes toward bullying became more supportive of bullying as students progressed through middle school. Additionally, external attributes for bullying were cited across all four status groups as reasons for involvement in bullying. Implications for prevention and intervention programs that address bullying 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.     

Social emotional learning (SEL) practices in schools: Effects on perceptions of bullying victimization

The direct and indirect effects of student perceptions of the extent to which social emotional learning (SEL) instruction is provided on bullying at school and student victimization experiences were examined for 2832 public school students. Students in grades 4–12 completed several subscales of the Delaware School Climate Survey (Bear et al., 2016) at a single timepoint to assess their perceptions of the extent to which SEL instruction is used at their school, their own SEL skills, bullying at school, and personal victimization experiences. Structural equation modeling revealed that students' perceptions of SEL instruction were inversely related to their perceptions of bullying at school and students' personal experiences of victimization. Effects were direct and indirect, through students' self-reported perceptions of their SEL skills. Effects were stronger in late elementary and middle school than in high school. The indirect effects of student perceptions of the extent of SEL instruction on perceived bullying at school through students' SEL skills varied as a function of victimization severity. For students with low self-reported victimization, there was a negative relation between student self-reported SEL skills and perceptions of bullying at school. In contrast, for students who reported experiencing high levels of victimization, students' self-reported SEL skills related positively to perceptions of bullying at school; there was no significant relation between SEL skills and perceptions of bullying at school for students who reported moderate levels of victimization. Implications for teachers' inclusion of SEL instruction and its effects on positive youth development are discussed.     

Telling adults about one's plight as a victim of bullying: Student- and context-related factors predicting disclosure

We examined student- and context-related factors related to whether bullied students tell adults about their plight at school or at home. The sample included 1,266 students in primary (Grades 4–6) and lower secondary (Grades 8–9) schools, who had answered an online questionnaire at two measurement points about 5 months apart and were identified as victims of bullying on the basis of the latter. Only 55.4% of the bullied students had told their situation to someone, and much fewer had told an adult. Telling an adult at home was more common (34.0%) than telling a teacher (20.6%) or some other adult at school (12.7%). In a longitudinal structural equation model (SEM), factors related to increased likelihood of telling an adult were female gender, lower grade level, the chronicity of victimization, perceived negative teacher attitude towards bullying (teacher not tolerating bullying), and perceived peer support for victims (classmates’ tendency to defend students who are victimized).     

Blaming the Victim: University Student Attitudes Toward Bullying

Numerous studies have examined adolescent attitudes toward bullying, but limited research has explored college students’ attitudes toward victims of bullying. Using data collected from three southern universities (n = 1,135), the current research investigates demographic, experiential, and behavioral factors that are likely to influence whether university students attribute blame to bullying victims. Findings indicate that most university students report prosocial attitudes toward bullying. Victim blaming and minimizing attitudes were most common among males, heterosexuals, and those with a history of prior bullying perpetration during junior high or high school. Individuals reporting a higher frequency of drug use were significantly more likely to support victim blaming attitudes, and those who engaged in more frequent alcohol use were significantly more likely to minimize bullying.     

Bullying and social identity: The effects of group norms and distinctiveness threat on attitudes towards bullying

Drawing from social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), an experiment was carried out to determine the extent to which children's attitudes towards bullying could be moderated by in‐group norms and perceived threat to group distinctiveness. The study investigated the responses of 120 male primary school students aged 10‐13 years from five schools. The children read a story about a popular in‐group and an unpopular out‐group which involved the manipulation of three variables: the norms of the in‐group (bullying vs. fairness); distinctiveness threat (out‐group similarity vs. out‐group difference); and the behaviour of the in‐group character towards the out‐group character (bullying vs. helpful). It was predicted that a perceived threat to group distinctiveness, represented by similarity between the in‐group and the out‐group, and salient group norms that prescribed either bullying or fairness, would moderate the acceptability of bullying behaviours. Two story response measures were analysed: in‐group character liking and whether the in‐group character would be retained as a group member following his behaviour. The strongest support for social identity theory was revealed in the retention of in‐group character variable. The in‐group character was much more likely to have been retained as a group member when he behaved in accordance with group norms. Evidence was also found that bullying was more acceptable when directed at an out‐group member who was similar and therefore possibly represented a threat to the in‐group.     

Risk or resource: Does school climate moderate the influence of community violence on children’s social‐emotional development in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Exposure to community violence is thought to create risk for the social and emotional development of children, including those children living in low‐income, conflict‐affected countries. In the absence of other types of community resources, schools may be one of the few community resources that can help buffer children from the negative effects of community violence exposure. We sampled 8,300 students ranging in age from 6–18 years in 123 schools from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to examine whether and how two distinct dimensions of positive school climate can protect two key features of children's social‐emotional development in the presence of community violence. Multi‐level models tested the hypothesis that students’ perceptions of a positive school climate moderated the relation between community violence and self‐reported mental health problems and peer victimization. Findings support the hypothesis. Specifically, a positive school climate protected against mental health problems and peer victimization in the presence of high community violence. Students who experienced high community violence and a negative school climate generally demonstrated the worst development. We find complex interactions between the dimensions of school climate and exposure to violence on student social‐emotional development that highlight the salience of children's contexts for developmental studies in low‐income countries. We use dynamic developmental systems theory and differential impact to discuss the dual potential of schools as a buffer against the effects of violence or as a source of compounded risk.     

The Association Between Political Violence and the Connection Between Bullying and Suicidality Among Palestinian Youth

We examined the association between protracted political violence and the connection between bullying and suicidality among Palestinian adolescents. Data were collected from a representative sample of Palestinian students (N  = 5,713) from 100 schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem who completed an in‐class survey. Students who were victims of bullying or bully victims who were exposed to political violence were at higher risk for suicide attempts compared to students who were victims of bullying or bully victims but not exposed to political violence. Political violence moderated the association between bullying and suicide attempts after controlling for socio demographic and other mental health variables.     

The relationship between self‐perception of physical attractiveness and sexual bullying in early adolescence

The relationship between self‐perception of physical attractiveness and four measures of sexual bullying behavior (victimization, perpetration, having friends who sexually bully, and observation of sexual bullying among peers at school) was examined in a sample of 396 middle school age students. Students who perceived themselves to be more physically attractive than their peers reported sexually bullying others more, being sexually bullied by others more, observing more sexual bullying, and having more friends who sexually bully others than did students who perceived themselves as average looking. In addition, males who perceived themselves to be less physically attractive than their peers reported being victimized more and reported observing more sexual bullying in the school environment. These findings highlight the importance of physical attractiveness in the early initiation of sexual harassment. Implications for future research and interventions with early adolescents are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:271–281, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.