Bullying in the Same-Sex Friendships of Young Adolescent Girls: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative, narrative study explored the bullying experiences of young adolescent girls within their same-sex dyadic and group friendships. The participants were 5 female students, ages 11 and 12 years old, from 1 private, religious school in southern Ontario. Each girl participated in an audiotaped, 30-minute, personal interview based on an unstructured interview protocol. Interview transcripts were analyzed for bullying behaviors using Marini and Dane's (2008) subtypes of bullying, including the form, function, and involvement in bullying. Interview transcripts were also analyzed for common and emerging themes using aspects of L. M., Brown and Gilligan's (1992) "Listener's Guide." The findings of this study suggested that within their same-sex friendships girls assume the roles of all participants in bullying, including bullies, victims, bystanders, and bully-victims. The findings also suggested that bullying behaviors within young adolescent girls' same-sex friendships are mainly indirect in their mode of attack and that they are both proactive and reactive. The bully behaviors identified in this study were used to inform the major themes or salient features within the dynamics of girls' same-sex friendships also identified. These themes included acceptance, intimacy, negotiation, inclusion/exclusion, moral character judgements, and power. The findings of this study will be used to inform current theory, personal and professional practice, as well as future research.

Bullying, cyberbullying & sexuality: “Everyone needs a good friend”

Bullying is a pervasive social issue that occurs in numerous contexts and is particularly recognized in populations that are easily targeted. Individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning (LGBQ) are at an increased risk of victimization. Using mixed methodology involving 40 participants (N= 20) LGBQ and (N = 20) non-LGBQ and 10 subsequent in-depth interviews, this study examined prevalence rates of (cyber)bullying on the basis of sexual orientation. Results indicate a high frequency of direct and indirect bullying of LGBQ as compared to non-LGBQ youth. Ten interviews revealed themes that precipitate victimization such as the lack of understanding of LGBQ issues, educational shortfalls, societal and stereotypical beliefs. Results highlight the importance and need of formal and informal support (i.e. peer and online support).

Priming Prosocial Behavior to Augment Bystander Interventions in Bullying Situations

Bullying is a harmful phenomenon wherein victims have difficulty defending themselves. Bystanders have been identified as a potentially effective group for reducing bullying. The goal of this research is to determine whether prosocial primes (operationalized as empathy and civility) have an effect on increasing bystander interventions among youth. A total of 52 participants between the ages of 10-14 were randomly assigned to two experimental groups or one control group. Participants either received neutral control stories or they were primed twice with stories showing characters acting empathetically or civilly. Testing measures involve a short video and questionnaire assessing willingness to act as a bystander. Results reveal that prosocial training can augment willingness to engage in defending behaviors when compared to the control V = .19, F(2, 46) = 5.53, p < .01, ω2 = .19, correcting for the sphericity violation. This finding represents a relatively easy and non-invasive way to potentially change the bullying-related attitudes of adolescents, thereby potentially reducing bullying behaviors.

Predicting Physical, Verbal, Social, Racial, and Sexual Bullying with Individual and Environmental Factors from an Evolutionary Ecological Framework

Evidence exists for subtypes of bullying, but there is a lack of studies simultaneously investigating the factors that influence each subtype. The purpose of my thesis was to investigate how individual and environmental factors independently and interactively predict physical, verbal, social, racial, and sexual bullying using an evolutionary ecological framework. Adolescents (N = 225, M = 14.05, SD = 1.54) completed self-reports on demographics, HEXACO personality, Rothbart’s temperament, parenting, friendship quality, school connectedness, and socio-economic status. Subtypes were predicted by low Honesty-Humility in addition to other personality and demographic factors with the exception of physical bullying, which was predicted by environmental factors. Results suggest adolescents adaptively and selectively use bullying to exploit victims and obtain resources, although the subtype used may depend on individual factors bullies possess within Bronfenbrenner’s microsystem, instead of the meso- and exo- systems. Anti-bullying efforts should target these factors and reinforce alternative strategies to obtain resources.

Teachers’ Beliefs and Perceptions of Bullying and Bullying Prevention Initiatives

While bullying prevention programs appear to be decreasing the number of bullying incidents overseas, bullying prevention programs here in Canada have not been proving as effective. Evaluations of bullying prevention programs often focus on the outcomes and neglect to examine the training regimen for teachers. As teachers are on the front lines of bullying prevention programs, the current study explored teachers’ beliefs about the various types of bullying, their perceptions of their own abilities (e.g., teacher bullying prevention efficacy (TBPE), self-concept, and theory of mind) to implement bullying prevention initiatives, and how the school climate may influence their efficacy beliefs. Participants in the current study were 61 Canadian teachers (n = 51 women), predominantly from Ontario. Participating teachers represented all elementary division levels (primary, junior, and intermediate). Participants’ teaching experience ranged from zero years of teaching (pre-service) to 28 years of experience (M = 10.50, SD = 7.35). It was found that participants reported a relatively high TBPE score, which was related to their likely intervention in cyberbullying situations but not for other forms of bullying situations. It was found that teachers were most likely to intervene in physical bullying than verbal, relational, and cyberbullying, respectively. TBPE was influenced by the school climate. Teachers’ scores on the theory of mind scale was not a significant indicator of any teachers’ bullying beliefs. Analyses exploring the relationship between bullying beliefs and self-concept, morality predicted teachers TBPE scores and the likelihood of intervention. Teachers’ recommendations for bullying prevention training and school bullying prevention programs were explored. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practice and future research.

Examining Bullying Intervention Motivations Through a Cost/Benefit Analysis

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of the bystander in bullying situations. A cost/benefit model was explored in researching factors adolescents consider in deciding whether to intervene when witnessing bullying. Adolescents in the present study (N = 101 (50.5% female), between the ages of 12 to 18, M = 15.37 years; SD = 1.71 years) completed self-report questionnaires, and also responded to bullying scenarios, stating how the bystander would react, while explaining potential personal costs and benefits. Adolescents were able to articulate various personal costs and benefits when making the decision to intervene. Conclusions of the present study include: 1) the evolutionary approach is quite informative in illuminating the decision process of the bystander, 2) adolescents’ beliefs about bullying and the role of bystanders are different from their teachers’, and 3) the rather explicit cost/benefit model could be used to develop more targeted anti-bullying programs.

Cyberbullying : prevalencia y características de un nuevo tipo de bullying indirecto.

Delimitar las principales características y extensión del fenómeno cyberbullying y contrastarlas con el fenómeno bullying. Para ello plantea la prevalencia de estas formas de maltrato, así como describir las características de los implicados en los fenómenos. El estudio de variables de personalidad (autoestima y soledad) y de variables de contexto (clima escolar), serán también claves para delimitar estos fenómenos. De la misma forma plantea comprobar la continuidad entre los fenómenos bullying y cyberbullying y diseñar modelos explicativos de la participación, ya sea como agresor o como víctima, en estos fenómenos. La muestra esta constituida por un total de 1755 sujetos de la provincia de Córdoba (España) participan en este estudio. El cálculo de la muestra se obtuvo a través de un nivel de confianza del 95 por ciento y un error muestra del 2.5 por ciento siendo representativa de los escolares de Córdoba. El 0.48 por ciento de los participantes se eliminan debido a problemas de consistencias en sus respuesta, por lo que la muestra total esta compuesta por 1671 alumnos (48.65 por ciento de chicas) de tres cursos de Secundaria (32.2 por ciento de Primero de Eduación Secundaria Obligatoria- ESO; 32.0 por ciento de tercero de ESO y 35.8 de primero de Bachillerato). El instrumento utilizado en la recogida de datos es el denominado DAPHNE Questionnaire (Genta et al., 2011) compuesto por varios cuestionarios, que es la mejor forma de obtener información en una investigación sobre bullying. Como dato más importante señalar que la implicación como víctima en episodios de bullying es mayor que en los de cyberbullying. Dentro del bullying tradicional, las formas indirectas muestran mayores niveles de prevalencia frente a las formas directas. El dato más general en relación a los objetivos perseguidos ha sido una prevalencia relativamente baja de implicados en cyberbullying frente a las más alta implicación en bullying tradicional (directo e indirecto). Asimismo los datos son coincidentes con los estudios que apuntan que hay un mayor número de chicos que de chicas implicados en fenómenos bullying excepto en sus formas indirectas, donde esta proporción se invierte especialmente en las víctimas. Los resultados obtenidos en este trabajo de investigación se presentan en congresos internacionales y nacionales dando lugar a artículos científicos y capítulos de libro.

Prevalencia y aspectos diferenciales relativos al género del fenómeno bullying en países pobres.

Resumen tomado de la publicación

Bullying and cyberbullying : Research and intervention at school and social contexts

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Bullying and cyberbullying : Overlapping and predictive value of the co-occurrence

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Online and of???ine peer led models against bullying and cyberbullying

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Assetjament a l'escola (bullying). 'Acoso en la escuela (bullying)'.

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Riscs psicosocials a l'àmbit educatiu : estrés, burnout, mobbing, bullying,... ' Riesgos psicosociales en el ámbito educativo : estrés, burnout, mobbing, bullying,...'.

Definición de términos relacionados con los riesgos psicosociales en el ámbito educativo: el estrés, el síndrome de 'burnout', el 'mobbing' y el 'bullyng'. .

L'assetjament a l'escola : el Bullying, un problema en augment?. 'El acoso en la escuela : el Bullying, ¿un problema en aumento?'.

El acoso escolar, o Bullying, es un tema que cada vez más preocupa a los docentes y especialistas de la educación de nuestro país. En este articulo, se desarrolla una breve explicación de este fenómeno, así como las características, los tipos de Bullying, los perfiles psicosociales del agresor y de la víctima y las posibles consecuencias. Destaca la importancia del tipo de sociedad en que vivimos y los medios de comunicacion como factores importantes en la educación de los chicos y chicas.