The Zero program

Zero is a schoolwide antibullying program developed by the Centre for Behavioural Research at the University of Stavanger, Norway. It is based on three main principles: a zero vision of bullying, collective commitment among all employees at the school using the program, and continuing work. Based on these principles, the program aims to reduce student bullying by increasing the school's ability to uncover and stop bullying, and eventually to prevent it. The Zero program was launched in 2003, but the work that led to it goes back to the first national steps against bullying in 1983. The program extends over sixteen months as teachers develop their awareness of bullying and their competence in addressing it. Students and parents are involved in the program as well. The role of the school leadership is very important. More than 360 Norwegian schools have carried out the program.     

ViSC Social Competence Program

The ViSC Social Competence Program has been implemented in Austrian schools within the scope of a national strategy plan, Together Against Violence. The program is a primary preventive program designed for grades 5 to 8. The prevention of aggression and bullying is defined as a school development task, and the initial implementation of the program lasts one school year. The program consists of universal and specific actions that are implemented through in-school teacher training and a class project for students. The program was evaluated with a randomized intervention control group design. Data were collected from teachers and students. Results suggest that the program reduces aggression in schools.     

Hate at school: victimization and disorder associated with school avoidance

Abstract

Previous research indicates that victimization at school and school disorder are associated with school avoidance. The appearance of hateful words and symbols at schools and verbal hateful attacks at schools are prompting additional concerns about students’ perceived safety. The current study provides evidence that observing and being victimized by hate at school are additional contributors to school avoidance that is enacted over concerns of being attacked at school. This includes avoidance of the school itself as well as specific places at the school such as the school entrance, school cafeteria, and parking lots. Data analyzed from the 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey provide this evidence. The findings point to recommendations for identifying and reducing hate in schools while maintaining efforts to reduce bullying and provide a positive school climate.     

LGBTQQ youth creating change: Developing allies against bullying through performance and dialogue

Research has documented heterosexism and genderism facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) students in schools, especially as it relates to experiencing bullying and harassment. However, little research addresses anti-LGBTQQ bullying interventions, and no research has examined the use of youth-led performance and dialogue in cultivating anti-bullying behaviors among students. The present mixed-methods study assesses one such intervention led by a community-based LGBTQQ and allied youth group. Repeated measures general linear modeling demonstrates a positive impact of this intervention on middle and high school students' likelihood to intervene when witnessing anti-LGBTQQ harassment and confidence to successfully do so, particularly for White students. Qualitative findings demonstrate barriers to intervention and decision-making processes of youth when intervening. Results suggest the importance of these interventions in empowering LGBTQQ youth to effect change in their schools.     

Stopping the Hate: Applying Insights on Bullying Victimization to Understand and Reduce the Emergence of Hate in Schools*

Scholars and educators study how the school climate influences aggressive behaviors like bullying. Far less research examines the relationship between school climate and hateful actions. This study addresses that gap by examining students’ perceptions and observations of the school climate with a nationally representative sample of U.S. middle and high school students. These data include reports of hateful verbal victimization and observations of hateful words and symbols. While some speculate that bullying and hate are separate phenomena, results indicate that school climates which reduce bullying victimization also reduce this study's measures of hate. One difference is that the presence of security guards or police has no effect on bullying victimization while it is associated with increased reports of hateful incidents. The results are interpreted in light of current efforts to reduce school violence and concerns over the role of harsh punishment and law enforcement in school. While one cannot conclude that bullying and hate are empirically distinct from these findings, they point to strategies to combine formal social control and efforts to improve school climate through forming positive social bonds between students and authority figures. This can keep students safe from both violence and hate.     

Building School,Family, and Community Partnerships: Developing a Theoretical Framework

School, family, and community partnerships are among the suite of strategies advocated for improved school outcomes in which social workers can play a valuable role. Such partnerships are complex to implement in practice and there is little systematic research to guide the practitioner. This study evaluated an early intervention partnership program involving school, family, community, and philanthropic partners implemented in two primary schools in rural Victoria, Australia. The findings highlighted challenges in the process of evaluation and program implementation and in the opportunities this provided to identify key enabling factors. These involved having: a shared vision and aims; democratic governance; a supportive policy and organisational environment including external funding; workers with skills and clear roles; activities for project momentum; and ongoing review and evaluation. These factors can be used by social workers and others working with schools as a valuable conceptual framework to facilitate school, family, and community partnership processes.     

Approaches to Reduce Bullying in Schools – A Critical Analysis from the Viewpoint of First‐ and Second‐Order Perspectives on Bullying

In this article, recent research literature on bullying in schools is discussed. The authors approach the discussion from a critical angle, distinguishing between first‐order perspectives (bullying as part of individuals’ dysfunction) and second‐order perspectives (bullying as part of social processes) to embrace the different understandings of bullying and to discuss these critically. The purpose is to present important knowledge to reduce bullying and to engage in a discussion of different perspectives on bullying. This article contributes to the existing knowledge of the field by discussing and developing the original concepts of first‐ and second‐order interventions.     

Bullying and harassment in schools and the rights of children

By the year 2000, the issue of school bullying has come to occupy a prominent role in the national consciousness of many countries. There has been considerable media publicity, many publications, a great deal of research, and the beginnings of successful school‐based interventions to reduce bullying. In this article I define the term bullying, and discuss the history of the recent upsurge in interest and research. I then overview main findings concerning the nature of school bullying, the school‐based intervention work so far, and the implications for future research and action. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The development and evaluation of a spouse abuse treatment program in a military setting

The development and evaluation of a spouse abuse treatment program in a military setting are described. Preliminary studies on the correlates of interspousal violence found that measures of locus of control, marital adjustment, and stressful life events differentiated abusive from non-abusive service members. A treatment program for abusive couples was developed based on the preliminary findings. Program evaluation data involving pre- and post-program administrations found significant positive change on The Dyadic Adjustment Subscales, Consensus and Cohesion, and on the Norwicki Strickland Locus of Control Scale. The implications of these findings for family advocacy programing are discussed.     

A qualitative study investigating adolescents' understanding of aggression,bullying and violence

There is a general consistency across the research literature regarding the definition of bullying. This has filtered down into the construction of governmental and school anti-bullying policies around the world. However, research suggests that children and adolescents are failing to accurately identify cases of bullying. This in turn has implications upon the accuracy of our perception of the extent of the problem of bullying within schools. The current study aimed to investigate how 11–17 year olds understand and differentiate between terms relating to interpersonal peer aggression, violence and bullying. Fifty-seven (twenty male, thirty-seven female) participants were recruited via an opportunity sample. Participants took part in focus group interviews within which they were asked to provide a definition for a list of words relating to both traditional and cyber forms of aggression, bullying and violence. Thematic analysis revealed that the participants held a shared understanding of the terms relating to aggression, bullying and violence. Participants defined each term by describing the behaviors involved, their perception of the level of control the perpetrators of each type of negative peer interaction have and the perception of those involved. The implications of these findings for both policy and future research are discussed.     

Gay‐Straight Alliances,Inclusive Policy,and School Climate: LGBTQ Youths’ Experiences of Social Support and Bullying

Gay‐Straight Alliances (GSA) and school policies focused on support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning youth may reduce bias‐based bullying and enhance social supports in schools. Using multivariate regression, we tested the relationship between youth reports of the presence of GSAs and LGBTQ‐focused policies, independently and mutually, with experiences bullying and perceived support (n = 1,061). Youth reported higher classmate support in the presence of GSAs and higher teacher support in the presence of LGBTQ‐focused policies; the presence of both GSAs and LGBTQ‐focused policies was associated with less bullying and higher perceived classmate and teacher support. The findings indicate that GSAs and LGBTQ‐focused policies are distinctly and mutually important for fostering safer and more supportive school climates for youth.     

Distressed Bullies,Social Positioning and Odd Victims: Young People's Explanations of Bullying

The aim of the present study was to investigate to what degree teenagers agree with bullying explanation statements that could be categorised as the odd victim explanation, bully's social positioning explanation, or the distressed bully explanation. A second aim was to investigate how these types of bullying explanations might be associated with gender and self‐reported prior bullying roles. Three hundred and fifty teenagers, attending three upper secondary schools in a medium‐sized Swedish town, completed a questionnaire. Although the teenagers were prone to agree with all three types of bullying explanations, they were more inclined to think that bullying occurs because the bully wants power or status. Girls were more inclined than boys to think that bullying takes place because the bullies have their own problems. The more the teenagers thought that bullying occurs because the victims are odd, different or deviant, the more they have been involved in bullying situations as bullies or reinforcers. The more the teenagers thought that bullying occurs because the bully has psychosocial problems, the more they have been involved as defenders and the less as bullies or reinforcers in bullying situations.     

An Evaluation of the Positive Action Program for Youth Violence Prevention: From Schools to Summer Camps

New Orleans has experienced some of the highest per capita rates of homicide in the nation. In response, the City of New Orleans developed the NOLA FOR LIFE murder reduction strategy, one aspect of which is the implementation of Positive Action, a character building program for youth. The Positive Action program has offered promising results for curbing youth violence when implemented in school-based settings. However, given the city’s mostly charter-based school system, summer camps are among the few entry points available through which to implement city-wide youth initiatives. During the 2016 summer camp session, an evaluation was conducted to determine whether incorporating the Positive Action curriculum into a 6-week summer camp results in youth experiencing positive changes in peer self-esteem, the ability to get along with others, bullying behavior, and normative beliefs about aggression. This evaluation compares youth that received the Positive Action curriculum during summer camp with those that received the traditional summer camp curriculum. A multi-method approach of quantitative pre-and post-surveys of youth and focus group interviews with camp teachers were employed. Results from the quantitative data suggest few statistically significant findings, while qualitative data suggests that Positive Action may be effective at reducing violent norms and behavior. Implications for social workers and the need for adapting school-based violence reduction interventions for non-traditional settings are discussed.     

Ergonomics for children: an educational program for elementary school

Studies indicate that musculoskeletal discomfort and back pain problems are evident not only in adults, but also in children [11,13]. We believe that educating towards a balanced-posture, body-function and movement patterns, as well as their ergonomic implications, can minimize and even prevent these problems. Such an ergonomics awareness educational program has to start at childhood and should be an integral part of the curriculum in the schools. This article presents the educational program "Ergonomics, Movement and Posture" (EMP), which is taught in elementary schools by Physical Education (PE) students of the Kibbutzim College of Education in Israel, as part of their practicum. Although there has been no formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the program, so far, participating children, their parents, the teachers and the principles have offered positive feedback.     

School-based prevention of bullying and relational aggression in adolescence: the fairplayer.manual

The fairplayer.manual is a school-based program to prevent bullying. The program consists of fifteen to seventeen consecutive ninety-minute lessons using cognitive-behavioral methods, methods targeting group norms and group dynamics, and discussions on moral dilemmas. Following a two-day training session, teachers, together with skilled fairplayer.teamers, implement fairplayer.manual in the classroom during regular school lessons. This chapter offers a summary of the program's conception and underlying prevention theory and summarizes the results from two evaluation studies. Standardized questionnaires showed a positive impact of the intervention program on several outcome variables.     

A short-term outcome evaluation of the "I'm Special" drug abuse prevention program: a revisit using SCAT inventory

In the previous evaluation of "I'm Special" (ISP) drug abuse prevention/education program, the long-term impact was reported. The current study examines the short-term outcome of the ISP to establish a conceptual link between what has been observed longitudinally to the short-term outcome. The evaluation instrument used is children's Self-Concept Attitudinal (SCAT) Inventory. Subjects are the third grade students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The evaluation design employed is before and after-measurement without a control group. In the absence of a control group, the treatment effect of the ISP is estimated on the basis of individual growth curve models. Through the study, it has been learned that the ISP was able to generate positive changes along six attitudinal dimensions included in the SCAT Inventory. The six scales have shown close relationships to student performance at school: student-teacher relationship; self-esteem, attitude toward school, basic social values, advanced social values, and the perception of family cohesiveness. Of these, the first four scales have shown statistical significance at the .05 level. It is estimated that the ISP is capable of generating a significant amount of positive attitudinal changes on a short-term basis with a time span of about four months between pre- and posttests. These findings are consistent with the conclusions obtained from the longitudinal study where student alcohol and other drug using behavior and other related student problem behaviors were significantly lower among the ISP recipients than non-recipients of the program.     

Bullying in schools: what is the problem, and how can educators solve it?

This chapter reviews recent research on bullying from an educator's perspective. It is well known that bullying, a serious issue in schools, can be prevented when educators intervene. But research has shown that it is difficult for educators to detect bullying situations in their school and intervene competently and effectively. This chapter examines how educators can detect bullying, how they can best tackle serious cases of bullying, and how they can best prevent bullying in the long run.     

Bullying and ethnic diversity: investigating their relation in the school setting

This particular study investigated school bullying in relation to ethnic diversity in Cyprus. The research involved 469, 8–14 years old pupils of Cypriot origin and 83 pupils of non-Cypriot origin. Two different questionnaires, one for Cypriot and one for non-Cypriot students, were used and data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. The findings showed that ethnic diversity seems to be a factor that can precipitate school bullying and victimization in Cypriot primary and secondary schools, that non-Cypriot students feel more victimized than their Cypriot classmates and that they prefer to share their experiences relating to bullying with someone outside of the school. Additionally, the study revealed that verbal and psychological bullying were the most common kinds of bullying that Cypriot and non-Cypriot students faced, and that both groups limit their knowledge of each other to ‘songs, language, food and games’. The study also showed that the teacher’s role in facing and preventing bullying related to ethno-cultural diversity is critical. Finally, citizenship education and the use of mediation techniques are proposed as a means to foster non- Cypriot students’ social inclusion and, thus, prevent their victimization.     

Assessing School Climate Among Sexual Minority High School Students

ABSTRACT

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex (i.e., sexual minority) youth are often targets of aggression because of their sexual identity, both in and out of schools. Literature on school-related aggression toward sexual minority youth often relies on quantitative surveys or retrospective studies. Little non-retrospective research has been done with this population investigating the nature of bullying, school climate, and the effects of being a sexual minority youth in schools. Sixteen sexual minority high school youth participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews. Results for the themes from these interviews are presented in four categories: Sexual minorities' overall perspective on their school climate, the nature of aggression in schools against sexual minorities when present, the characteristics of the victims and bullies, and the consequences of being a sexual minority in schools. These youth's perspectives provide support for existing literature on the nature of bullying while providing additional insights into the nature and deficiencies of the resources available to them at schools. Ideas for future research with sexual minority youth in school-based settings also are included.