Accusation and confession discrepancies in bullying: Dual-perspective networks and individual-level attributes

Previous research on bullying implicitly assumes that individuals agree on who bullies whom and whom is bullied by who. We analyse dual-perspective networks from 96 school-classes in Germany, where adolescents were asked both whom they bully (confession network) and who bullies them (accusation network). Drawing from goal framing theory we explicitly examine discrepancies in the subjective perception of bullying, demonstrating that the majority of accusations have no corresponding confessions, and vice versa. There are more confessions than accusations overall. Furthermore, we investigate how individual-level attributes are associated with these discrepancies. Our study indicates that analyses of bullying relationships, as well as social networks in general, should account for relational discrepancies resulting from individuals’ subjective perceptions of social behaviour.     

Bullying victimization,negative emotions,and substance use: utilizing general strain theory to examine the undesirable outcomes of childhood bullying victimization in adolescence and young adulthood

Bullying victimization has been directly associated with a variety of negative outcomes, but there are still many unknowns as to how deleterious emotional states resulting from victimization influence other undesirable events. The current study draws on Agnew’s general strain theory to examine multiple outcomes of youth victimized by repeated bullying prior to adolescence. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 were used to examine indicators of diminished moods and negative emotions on substance use for bullying victims in adolescence and again during young adulthood. Findings from various LISERL models indicate that bullying victimization directly increases diminished moods for males and females in adolescence. Additionally, childhood bullying victimization directly increases substance use in adolescence and young adulthood for males but not females. Finally, diminished moods in adolescence and negative emotions in young adulthood increase substance use for females but not for males. Policy implications and limitations for this analysis are discussed.     

No Expo Network: a failed mobilization in a post-political frame

In 2015 Milan hosted the Universal Exposition with the theme ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. Even if characterized by various scandals and problems, the edition was narrated by the mainstream media as a political and economic success. Critical voices were almost completely obscured by favorable propaganda and the ideas of development and the future proposed by the Expo rhetoric was presented as inevitable, configuring ‘the best of all possible worlds’ in a more general post-political frame. In this profile I first present the main characteristics of the No Expo Network, e.g. the actors that composed it and the main critiques that they advanced. I will then focus on the reasons for its defeat, which is then contextualized in relation to the election of the Chief Executive Officer of Expo 2015 as new Mayor of Milan. Here, we can see the continuation and structural strengthening of the neoliberal politics of Expo2015 beyond the mega event itself.     

Developing a methodology to assess the impact of research grant funding: A mixed methods approach

This paper discusses the development of a mixed methods approach to analyse research funding. Research policy has taken on an increasingly prominent role in the broader political scene, where research is seen as a critical factor in maintaining and improving growth, welfare and international competitiveness. This has motivated growing emphasis on the impacts of science funding, and how funding can best be designed to promote socio-economic progress. Meeting these demands for impact assessment involves a number of complex issues that are difficult to fully address in a single study or in the design of a single methodology. However, they point to some general principles that can be explored in methodological design. We draw on a recent evaluation of the impacts of research grant funding, discussing both key issues in developing a methodology for the analysis and subsequent results. The case of research grant funding, involving a complex mix of direct and intermediate effects that contribute to the overall impact of funding on research performance, illustrates the value of a mixed methods approach to provide a more robust and complete analysis of policy impacts. Reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology are used to examine refinements for future work.     

Discourse Failures and the NGO Sector: How Campaigning Can Undermine Advocacy

Within academic research, more and more scholars reveal the ambivalence of NGOs—the sometimes constructive, sometimes destructive role they play in solving societal problems. In this paper, we present a discourse analysis that illustrates how NGOs’ campaigning may undermine their reputation and advocacy function. We conclude that such discourse failures are frequently not merely an accidental by-product, but rather a not-intended consequence of deliberate NGOs’ campaigns. By applying ideas from political economy, we make particular note of probable discourse failures when campaigns attempt to deal with complex issues in an environment rife with wide-spread prejudices and where the NGO’s work is transparent. We present collectively institutionalized commitments for NGOs and commitment services enforced by political organizations as instruments that are suitable for increasing public accountability of the NGO sector. In conclusion, we argue that further research can benefit from systematically analyzing the interdependencies between discourses and institutions.     

Recentering our tendencies: Immigrant youth development and the importance of context in social work research

According to Weiner’s model, help giving has various determinants such as social and individual causes, affective reactions, and responsibility. The aim of this study was (1) to examine the influence of bullying acts, the victim’s behavior at work, and revictimization on equity judgments and the perceived responsibility of perpetrators and victims; and (2) to test the determinants of help decisions. Twelve vignettes of bullying at work submitted to 133 participants varied according to the severity of bullying, the victim’s pro- or antisocial behaviors, and the victim’s antecedents. The results showed that the situation was judged less equitable, the victim less responsible, and the perpetrator more responsible, and the intention of help was increased, (1) when the perpetrator’s acts were serious, and (2) when the bullied person had shown prosocial behavior versus antisocial behavior. The help increased more (1) when the perpetrator’s acts were harmful and (2) when the victim had shown prosocial behaviors.     

Photography and ambivalence

Although scant attention has been devoted to the anthropological ‘crisis in representation’ of creating still images as part of anthropological research, several contemporary women anthropologists have written of their misgivings. In this paper, I examine the ideas and photographic practices of Ruth Behar, Lila Abu‐Lughod, Serena Nanda, Barbara Tedlock, Kristen Hastrup and Nancy Scheper‐Hughes, all of whom hold ambivalent attitudes toward photography. I will identify common concerns as well as strengths acknowledged by them. Also, I will examine new ways in which they and a number of other anthropologists are re‐visioning photographic practices and creating more equitable relationships between researchers and subjects.     

Research,policy and funding – academic treadmills and the squeeze on intellectual spaces1

In recent years, there has been a great deal of collective rumination about social scientists' role in society. In the post‐1997 UK context, public policy commitments to ‘evidence‐based policy’ and ‘knowledge transfer’ have further stimulated such reflections. More recently, Michael Burawoy's 2004 address to the American Sociological Association, which called for greater engagement with ‘public sociology’ has reverberated throughout the discipline, motivating a series of debates about the purpose of sociological research. To date, most such contributions have been based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence. In contrast, this paper responds directly to Burawoy's suggestion that we should ‘apply sociology to ourselves,’ in order that we ‘become more conscious of the global forces’ driving our research ( Burawoy 2005 : 285). Drawing on an empirical research project designed to explore of the relationship between health inequalities research and policy in Scotland and England, in the period from 1997 until 2007, this paper discusses data from interviews with academic researchers. The findings suggest that the growing pressure to produce ‘policy relevant’ research is diminishing the capacity of academia to provide a space in which innovative and transformative ideas can be developed, and is instead promoting the construction of institutionalized and vehicular (chameleon‐like) ideas. Such a claim supports Edward Said's (1994 ) insistence that creative, intellectual spaces within the social sciences are increasingly being squeezed. More specifically, the paper argues we ought to pay far greater attention to how the process of seeking research funding shapes academic research and mediates the interplay between research and policy.     

Revisiting 'communities in Britain'

In this article I re‐examine Frankenberg’s Communities in Britain (1966) and his use of a ‘morphological continuum’ within his analysis. This analysis is itself a re‐assessment of some influential community studies conducted within the British Isles. I look at some particular ideas within the more theoretical part of this book, especially the ideas of ‘social redundancy’ and the distinction between ‘complex’ and ‘complicated’. I then consider some themes arising from some more recent studies. These themes include identity, networks and social capital and time and I argue that Frankenberg's analysis can still provide the reader with useful tools to think through the ideas and practices of community.     

The changing role of trade unions in the sustainable development agenda

Managing the large-scale restructuring away from the previously established resource-wasting industrial mass production and consumption model towards a socially balanced and resource-efficient economy requires an adaptation of interest reconciliation mechanisms, including also new strategic approaches by the main actors. As we are speaking of a transition towards a new model, the role of actors is essential, even if, in most of the climate-change literature, there is scant consideration or analysis of the actors, their interests, and their ideas. The basic question is not simply how ‘civil issues’ can be integrated into the established forms of social dialogue and how trade unions will need to adapt their agenda accordingly, but, more fundamentally, whether these structures are capable of giving a boost to a true paradigm shift in overcoming the unsustainable production model. In other words, are trade unions and social dialogue structures indeed ‘locked into’ this production model, and, if not, what is the way forward? We will examine in this article how dialogue structures and key actors develop new strategies and live up to new challenges in the context of sustainable development. After framing the main context of the climate-change debate in the first section, we present a critical view of the ‘capital–labour’ deal as it was established in the post-WW2 period. In the third section we put forward three main arguments as to how and why trade unions and social dialogue structures are actually in a position to take up broader issues, expand the dialogue, and move away from the resource-wasting consumer-industrial production model. We also show how the trade union movement – at its different organisational levels – takes up this narrative. This is a historical process entailing pitfalls and contradictions, in so far as the broader societal role of trade unions has no obvious roots in their origins and early history. Becoming involved in the great societal challenges of mankind, as in the exemplary case of the paradigm shift in production and consumer patterns of industrial society, may be liable to occasional tensions with their original membership-focused approach. The strategic considerations, on the other hand, of how the transformation to a low-carbon economy should be managed and how its unavoidable costs should be distributed (among employers, employees, the state and consumers) are issues more in line with their traditional role. Contradictions and differing visions necessarily appear also between different organisational levels of the trade union movement.     

Bullying and Negotiated Identities: Perspectives of 7th and 8th Grade Girls

The aim of this study is to explore 40 Swedish 7th and 8th grade girls’ perspectives on bullying by listening to how they discuss and understand bullying. Pair and group interviews were conducted and analysed using grounded theory. Symbolic interactionism was used as a theoretical perspective focusing on social processes and interaction. The participants constructed bullying as an identity process involving gendered identities, victim identities and socially‐valuable identities where bullying was located within a gendered order. These identities were negotiated with the concept of self‐confidence, where the girls both aligned with and distanced themselves from the gendered order.     

The concept of reflection: is it skill based or values?

Reflection, reflectivity, reflective practice, reflective praxis and critical reflection are all dialogical terms used interchangeably to mean different things. It is timely to take time out and pause on this important concept to consider the wider implications of its use. Whatever reflection is, we know there are difficulties in identifying this complex idea writers, practitioners and scholars constantly engage with reflection in new debates about ‘how to do it better’ assuming the ‘it’ is something assessed and understood. More worryingly a student’s ability to reflect is assessed assuming the idea of reflective practice is a measureable phenomenon. Some have identified problems of assessing reflection. There is limited empirical evidence of what is reflection. In the substantial literature on reflection we have failed to ask the question – ‘What is reflection it if doesn’t exist that I might be able to perform it better and others can measure?’ The problem of reflection is more complicated when presenting reflective performance through language, which will also be explored. This article presents a challenge to contemporary ideas of the way in which reflection is conceptualised and understood. The article concludes with insights and a way forward for a new argument on reflection and how it might be linked to virtue ethics rather than it being viewed as a skill that can be taught.     

Adoption and adaptation: A computational case study of the spread of Granovetter's weak ties hypothesis

How do new scientific ideas diffuse? Computational studies reveal how network structures facilitate or obstruct diffusion; qualitative studies demonstrate that diffusion entails the continuous translation and transformation of ideas. This article bridges these computational and qualitative approaches to study diffusion as a complex process of continuous adaptation. As a case study, we analyze the spread of Granovetter's Strength of Weak Ties hypothesis, published in American Journal of Sociology in 1973. Through network analysis, topic modeling and a close reading of a diffusion network created using Web of Science data, we study how different communities in this network interpret and develop Granovetter's hypothesis in distinct ways. We further trace how these communities originate, merge and split, and examine how central scholars emerge as community leaders or brokers in the diffusion process.     

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.     

Understanding the lived experience of bullying in Australian workplaces: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

The purpose of this article is to develop a deeper understanding of a negative behavior at work through a study of the lived experience of bullying in Australian workplaces. Although there is considerable research available on workplace bullying, extant research largely provides empirical examinations of the prevalence, causes, and consequences of the phenomenon. By contrast, the research herein reported offers an in-depth account of bullying from the frame of reference of those who have experienced it and demonstrates the difficulties faced by them when coping with it. The study’s data source is drawn from reports submitted to the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry on workplace bullying. The reports were analyzed by using the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study highlights the impact of bullying at work on individuals’ lives and the coping mechanisms used for dealing with the impact. This article also reveals that bullying destroys organizations’ succession planning efforts as competent and talented individuals leave jobs as a way of coping with bullying. The study further shows that some individuals eventually choose to end their lives as a way of coping with bullying. The article thus adds evidence to anecdotal suggestions of the link between bullying and suicide in Australia.     

Do Adolescents Intervene in Intergroup Bias-based Bullying? Bystander Judgments and Responses to Intergroup Bias-based Bullying of Refugees

This study examined 587 Turkish adolescents’ (M_age = 13.14, SD = 1.61) judgments and bystander responses towards hypothetical intragroup interpersonal (Turkish victim) and intergroup bias-based (Syrian refugee victim) bullying. Intergroup factors and social-cognitive skills were assessed as predictors. Findings revealed that adolescents were less likely to see bullying as acceptable and less likely to explicitly support the bully in intragroup interpersonal bullying compared to intergroup bias-based bullying. Further, adolescents with higher theory of mind and empathy were more likely to evaluate intergroup bias-based bullying as less acceptable and more likely to challenge the bully. Adolescents’ prejudice and discrimination towards refugees were predictors of bystander judgments and responses to intergroup bias-based bullying. This study provides implications for anti-bullying intervention programs.     

Bullying behaviour in secondary schools: what roles do teachers play?

Teachers have an important role to play in the management and prevention of bullying. Although many anti‐bullying programmes advocate a ‘whole school approach’, they tend to focus on student‐student behaviours and rarely examine the nature of other relationships which exist in the school. This study examines bullying between students and teachers at two time points. Thirty per cent of students said they were bullied by teachers at both times. Numbers reporting they bullied teachers were 28 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively. The paper explores the important role that teachers play in dealing with bullying in a school setting by modelling appropriate behaviours and dealing with it effectively. If teachers are victimised by or engage in bullying students this has implications for the ethos within the school and may also impact on the success of anti‐bullying programmes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The global animus: in the tracks of world consciousness

In recent years, much has been made of the idea that under conditions of globalization, more and more people in different parts of the planet conceive of themselves as part of a ‘global society’ or ‘global culture’. Often it has been alleged that forms of consciousness centred around a disposition to see one's own life as a single part of the ‘world as a whole’ are relatively recent products. In this paper we argue that such tendencies, or something very much like them, in fact were present in the ancient Mediterranean world. We examine how ways of thinking and feeling, that bear in certain ways close correspondence to modern ideas as to ‘globality’, were prevalent amongst certain social groups in the Roman empire. Those persons regarded themselves as part of a world that was rapidly shrinking through increasing levels of political, commercial and other modes of interconnection between its geographically disparate parts. By examining these ancient attitudes, we demonstrate an important aspect of the pre-history of modern sensibilities as to the nature of a ‘globalizing/globalized world’. Moreover, by attending to ancient evidence as to ‘global’ attitudes and ‘global consciousness’, one may begin to overcome the presentism implicit in many contemporary accounts of globalization.     

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.     

Understanding weaknesses in bullying research: How school personnel can help strengthen bullying research and practice

School personnel (teachers, administrators, counselors, staff, and social workers) would greatly benefit from a stronger understanding of bullying dynamics. In order to heighten their understanding, we must strengthen bullying research. Despite more than 40 years of bullying research, a number of methodological weaknesses continue to plague the field of bullying. First, there is a lack of a common definition of bullying, making it difficult to compare results across studies. Second, some researchers use one-item measures of bullying, a practice that lacks content validity and fails to assess the entire scope of the bullying dynamic. Third, many measures fail to assess all forms of bullying. Fourth, researchers often fail to provide a definition of bullying or to even include the word “bullying” in their measures, thus conflating the measurement of bullying and aggression. Finally, most scales measure the prevalence of bullying and fail to assess the motivations for bullying or reasons why youth are bullied or bully others. The current article provides an overview of these five weaknesses present in bullying research, presents possible solutions, and discusses implications for school personnel.