BULLY PREVENTION IN POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT

Bullying behaviors are a growing concern in U.S. schools. We present here a behavioral approach to bully prevention utilizing a schoolwide intervention. Bully prevention in positive behavior support (BP‐PBS) teaches students to withhold the social rewards hypothesized to maintain bullying. A single‐subject multiple baseline design across 6 students and three elementary schools was implemented in an empirical evaluation of the intervention's effectiveness. Results indicated that implementation was functionally related to decreased incidents of bullying for all 6 students observed. In addition, we observed a decrease in the social responses from victims and bystanders. Finally, school staff implemented the program with a high degree of fidelity and rated the program as effective and efficient. Limitations and implications of these results are discussed.     

Modeling the Bullying Prevention Program Preferences of Educators: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

We used discrete choice conjoint analysis to model the bullying prevention program preferences of educators. Using themes from computerized decision support lab focus groups (n = 45 educators), we composed 20 three-level bullying prevention program design attributes. Each of 1,176 educators completed 25 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of the study’s attribute levels. Latent class analysis yielded three segments with different preferences. Decision Sensitive educators (31%) preferred that individual schools select bullying prevention programs. In contrast, Support Sensitive educators (51%) preferred that local school boards chose bullying prevention programs. This segment preferred more logistical and social support at every stage of the adoption, training, implementation, and long term maintenance processes. Cost Sensitive educators (16%) showed a stronger preference for programs minimizing costs, training, and implementation time demands. They felt prevention programs were less effective and that the time and space in the curriculum for bullying prevention was less adequate. They were less likely to believe that bullying prevention was their responsibility and more likely to agree that prevention was the responsibility of parents. All segments preferred programs supported by the anecdotal reports of colleagues from other schools rather than those based on scientific evidence. To ensure that the bullying prevention options available reflect the complex combination of attributes influencing real world adoption decisions, program developers need to accommodate the differing views of the Decision, Support, and Cost Sensitive segments while maximizing the support of parents and students.     

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 Plague of Bullying: In the Classroom,the Psychoanalytic Institute,and on the Streets

This article addresses the social epidemic of bullying that impacts our schools, workplaces, and communities from a psychoanalytic perspective. It has been estimated by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2008 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2008. Facts for Families (online); #80 http://www.accap.org [Google Scholar]) that nearly half of our children are bullied at some point during their school years. Bullying has increased with use of the Internet and social networks, with cyber-bullying having become a new concern of parents and educators. Clinical examples will be drawn from an individual psychoanalytic treatment, a school setting, and a psychoanalytic organization. As a social issue, bullying behavior comes in many forms and, at worst, can become the foundation of cyclical violent and suicidal behavior, creating childhood trauma and severe psychological symptoms in children, adolescents, and adults. Psychoanalysis has much to offer conceptually, with clear implications for solutions. A theoretical section describes one dynamic of bullying, utilizing a self-psychological perspective. This approach emerged from the Analytic Service to Adolescents Program (ASAP), an in-school treatment and research program of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and Morton Alternative High School. I argue that the applications of psychoanalytic ideas beyond our consulting rooms can, in turn, inform and enrich the clinical experience in our consulting rooms as well.     

中小学生欺负/受欺负的普遍性与基本特点

利用修订的Olweus欺负问卷对 92 0 5名城乡儿童进行了测查 ,考察初中和小学阶段儿童欺负 /受欺负问题的普遍性及基本特点。结果发现 :中小学生中存在着较严重的欺负问题 ,近 1/ 5被调查的儿童卷入欺负 /受欺负问题 ;总体上小学和初中阶段学生欺负 /受欺负问题的发生率随年级的升高而下降 ,但欺负他人在初中阶段具有稳定性 ;直接言语欺负是最为普遍的欺负方式 ;在欺负 /受欺负的比率、对待欺负态度和欺负类型上均存在性别差异。     

Bullying,defending, and outsider behaviors: The moderating role of social status and gender in their relationship with empathy

The aim of the present study was to examine whether the effect of empathy on the role children play in bullying situations, as either bullies, defenders or outsiders, was moderated by children's social status within their classroom, and whether this moderation was gender dependent. For this purpose, we used a representative sample of 2,050 Spanish primary school children (50.80% girls) from grades 3–6 (M _age = 9.80 years; SD = 1.24), recruited from 27 primary schools. Results showed that the effect of empathy on bullying behavior was moderated by the sociometric rating only in girls. Both empathy and social rating had an effect on defending behavior. However, neither the children's sociometric rating nor their gender moderated the relationship between empathy and defending and outsider behaviors. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions designed to prevent bullying in school settings.     

Teachers’ awareness in identifying microaggressive behaviors within the K-12 classroom

In the field of education, teachers are sentries for maintaining proper decorum, upholding school policies, and maintaining a social justice classroom, free of adversarial behaviors. While the premise of proper social and academic student engagement is expected, teachers are not always aware of or able to respond to inappropriate social interactions. This qualitative study using a narrative inquiry approach investigates and portrays the levels of awareness and decision-making processes teachers possess when addressing microaggression and microaggressive behaviors. Five public school teachers from varying grade levels in a culturally diverse school district participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews for this study. Emergent themes included: (a) awareness and recognition of microaggression as related to bullying, (b) microaggression as denigrating behavior directed toward others, and (c) microaggression with the school discipline framework. Findings suggest that teachers often lack awareness of microaggression as a concept distinct from bullying. But when the distinction is evident, teachers understand how microaggression can be a precursor to bullying which, if proactively addressed within the school discipline framework, may result in preventing bullying incidents before they start. Teachers were interested in receiving targeted professional development and adjusting school discipline policy to consider microaggression a unique concept. Guidance is offered to support educators, schools, and districts as clear guidelines and policies are established pertaining to identifying and addressing microaggression within the school community, thereby ensuring social and behavioral awareness.

     

Effects of cooperative learning on peer relations,empathy, and bullying in middle school

Although researchers have developed prevention programs to reduce bullying, the results are mixed, and this may be due to a degree of uncertainty in their theoretical foundation. In particular, these programs share an emphasis on empathy as a personal attribute that can be enhanced among students through the application of specific curricula that will, in turn, contribute to a reduction in bullying behavior. However, the link between empathy and bullying is unclear, as is the ability of bullying prevention programs to actually impact student empathy. In this study, we used a cluster randomized trial (N = 15 middle schools, 1,890 students, 47.1% female, 75.2% White) to evaluate the impact of cooperative learning on bullying, and we evaluated whether these effects were mediated by empathy and peer relatedness. Our results indicated that cooperative learning can significantly reduce bullying, and that some of this effect is transmitted via enhancements to affective empathy. Cooperative learning also demonstrated significant positive effects on cognitive empathy, but this did not have an effect on bullying. We also found that the effects of cooperative learning on cognitive and affective empathy were mediated by improvements in peer relatedness. These findings add a degree of clarity to the literature, and also represent the first time, as far as we are aware, that an antibullying program has been found to have significant effects on both cognitive and affective empathy.     

Tackling Acute Cases of School Bullying in the KiVa Anti-Bullying Program: A Comparison of Two Approaches

Whether cases of bullying should be handled in a direct, condemning mode or in a manner that does not involve blaming the perpetrator is a controversial issue among school professionals. This study compares the effectiveness of a Confronting Approach where the bully is openly told that his behavior must cease immediately to a Non-Confronting Approach where the adult shares his concern about the victim with the bully and invites him to provide suggestions on what could improve the situation. We analysed 339 cases of bullying involving 314 children from grades 1 to 9 (mean age?=?11.95). Cases were handled in 65 schools as part of the implementation of the KiVa anti-bullying program. In each school, a team of three teachers addressed cases coming to their attention by organizing discussions with the bullies using either a Confronting or a Non-Confronting Approach; schools were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Victims reported that bullying stopped in 78 % of the cases. Logistic regression analyses indicated that neither approach was overall more effective than the other, controlling for grade level, duration of victimization and type of aggression. The Confronting Approach worked better than the Non-Confronting Approach in secondary school (grades 7 to 9), but not in primary school (grades 1 to 6). The Confronting Approach was more successful than the Non-Confronting Approach in cases of short-term victimization, but not in cases of long-term victimization. The type of aggression used did not moderate the effectiveness of either approach.     

Classroom‐ and School‐Level Contributions to Bullying and Victimization: A Review

School bullying is increasingly viewed by researchers as a group phenomenon that extends beyond the perpetrator–victim dyad and is embedded in the wider social context. This paper reviews the literature on classroom and school factors contributing to bullying and victimization among children and adolescents. Considerable variability in the prevalence of these problems exists between classrooms and schools, which are highly relevant contexts for students' social development. Along with individual characteristics, both classroom‐ and school‐related factors explain the bullying dynamic. The contexts may also exacerbate, or buffer against, the effects of individual‐level risk for bullying involvement and the consequences of victimization. We discuss findings on the contributions of demographic and structural characteristics (e.g. grade level, classroom and school size), peer contextual factors (e.g. status hierarchy, group norms and bystander behaviours) and the role of teachers. Finally, implications for research and school‐based antibullying programs are considered. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Middle school students' perceptions of school climate,bullying prevalence,and social support and coping

The aim of this exploratory study was to examine middle school students’ (N = 88) perceptions of bullying, school climate and social support and coping. Data were collected using online surveys (n = 80) and face-to-face interviews (n = 8). Quantitative analyses revealed that prevalence of teasing, victimization, and bullying experiences significantly predicted perceptions of school climate. Qualitative findings provided further insight into student perceptions of bullying indicating several overlapping themes, when examining victimization, verbal and social bullying, causes of bullying, coping, and frustration with school resources dealing with aggressive behavior. Recommendations for addressing potential detrimental outcomes of bullying behavior and for improving perceptions of school climate are provided.     

Dan Olweus: Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology

Presents Dan Olweus, the 2011 winner for the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology. "For his lifelong commitment to understand bullying among children and create safe and humane school settings. Dan Olweus led the education of the global public about the nature and prevalence of bullying, its often serious consequences, and the behavior of adults that allows bullying to occur. He has done so as a careful researcher, a thoughtful theoretician, a creative program developer, and a tireless advocate. He uncovered the problem and created and evaluated a comprehensive solution. Throughout his career, he has been guided by a concern for careful psychological inquiry and a commitment to the promotion of human rights." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).     

The Perceived Roles of Bullying in Small-Town Midwestern Schools

Middle and high school students (N=207) in small-town midwestern schools were surveyed regarding factors that motivate and sustain bullying. Students failed to endorse statements that bullying teaches about behavior unacceptable to the group and that making friends with a bullied person would result in lowering one's social status. Students agreed that victims brought it on themselves, teasing was mostly done in fun, and that bullying helps people by making them tougher. Girls, but not boys, tended to agree that bullies held higher social status than did victims.     

Applying behavior analysis to school violence and discipline problems: Schoolwide positive behavior support

School discipline is a growing concern in the United States. Educators frequently are faced with discipline problems ranging from infrequent but extreme problems (e.g., shootings) to less severe problems that occur at high frequency (e.g., bullying, insubordination, tardiness, and fighting). Unfortunately, teachers report feeling ill prepared to deal effectively with discipline problems in schools. Further, research suggests that many commonly used strategies, such as suspension, expulsion, and other reactive strategies, are not effective for ameliorating discipline problems and may, in fact, make the situation worse. The principles and technology of behavior analysis have been demonstrated to be extremely effective for decreasing problem behavior and increasing social skills exhibited by school children. Recently, these principles and techniques have been applied at the level of the entire school, in a movement termed schoolwide positive behavior support. In this paper we review the tenets of schoolwide positive behavior support, demonstrating the relation between this technology and applied behavior analysis.     

A cross-national perspective on school bullying in Northern Ireland: a supplement to Smith, et al. (1999)

There is great value in exploring the prevalence of school bullying from a cross-national perspective. Smith, Morita, Junger-Tas, Olweus, Catalano, and Slee in 1999 presented a cross-national perspective on the nature, prevalence, and correlates of school bullying that encompassed a wide range of countries. However, Northern Ireland was not included, despite potentially being an important country to include, given its volatile social, ethnic, and religious history--leading to the concern that the population has become somewhat habituated to low level aggression. Thus, the present paper provides a review of the current literature on school bullying in the Northern Ireland school system. Evidence presented suggests that the incidence of school bullying in Northern Ireland may be higher than that in the rest of Ireland and the United Kingdom.     

Bullying experiences and literacy achievement amongst primary school children

This study investigated the association between school bullying and literacy achievements in a sample of primary school children from Johannesburg, South Africa. The children (n?=?443; females?=?56%, males?=?44%) attending six primary schools in the Soweto area suburbs, self-reported their experience of bullying by peers. In addition, they completed tests of literacy. The results indicate that learners who self-reported being bullied performed poorly in literacy tests when compared to their peers, who were not subjected to bullying. In particular, those who experienced bullying scored lower on tasks that required literacy skills in phonics, spelling, and word choice. The findings indicate that learner support for school bullying survivors should aim to address the deleterious effects of bullying on literacy development.     

Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social,emotional, and academic learning

A comprehensive mission for schools is to educate students to be knowledgeable, responsible, socially skilled, healthy, caring, and contributing citizens. This mission is supported by the growing number of school-based prevention and youth development programs. Yet, the current impact of these programs is limited because of insufficient coordination with other components of school operations and inattention to implementation and evaluation factors necessary for strong program impact and sustainability. Widespread implementation of beneficial prevention programming requires further development of research-based, comprehensive school reform models that improve social, health, and academic outcomes; educational policies that demand accountability for fostering children's full development; professional development that prepares and supports educators to implement programs effectively; and systematic monitoring and evaluation to guide school improvement.     

Understanding Factors Associated with Bullying and Peer Victimization in Chinese Schools Within Ecological Contexts

We review factors associated with school bullying and peer victimization in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter referred to as China) within the context of Bronfenbrenner (Am Psychol 32:513–531, 1977) ecological systems framework. Bullying and peer victimization are serious problems in Chinese schools, which calls for effective school-based bullying prevention and intervention strategies. However, understanding of this phenomenon has been limited because the majority of the empirical studies have examined individual characteristics (e.g., age, gender), and relatively few Chinese researchers have considered various contexts of the social ecology, such as cultural contexts. We first discuss the definition and prevalence, which is followed by a review of socio-demographic and ecological factors (micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem) that are correlated with school bullying and peer victimization in Chinese schools. Findings from our review suggest that factors at the socio-demographic (age, gender, behavioral/mental health problems), micro- (parents, peers, and teachers), meso- (parents’ involvement in children’s school), exo- (mass media), and macrosystem (emphasis on academic achievement and collectivism vs. individualism) levels can foster or mitigate bullying and peer victimization among children and adolescents in Chinese schools. We then draw implications for assessment, practice, and policy concerning school bullying and peer victimization in China.     

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.     

Differential effects of the KiVa anti-bullying program on popular and unpopular bullies

This study utilized data from the evaluation of the Finnish KiVa program in testing the prediction that school bullies' high perceived popularity would impede the success of anti-bullying interventions. Multiple-group structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were conducted on a subsample of 911 third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders identified as perpetrators of bullying. They belonged to 77 Finnish schools, including 39 schools implementing the KiVa program and 38 control schools. Data on peer-reported bullying and perceived popularity were collected before program implementation and one year later. Controlling for sex, age, and initial levels of bullying, KiVa participation resulted in lower rates of bullying (indicated by fewer peer nominations) after one year for bullies of low and medium popularity. However, there was no significant effect for those high in popularity, suggesting that popular bullies are less responsive to anti-bullying interventions than less popular bullies.