Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-169).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-169) Also available in print.

Bullying among school children is a social phenomenon that is now recognised as a widespread and serious problem across the globe. While decades of research have generated valuable insights as regards prevalence, main correlates and detrimental health consequences, many questions and gaps remain. For instance, it is unclear why the great majority of peer bystanders not intervene to support victims in a bullying conflict despite holding anti-bullying beliefs. Furthermore, great efforts have been made in the area of peer support and anti-bullying initiatives however there is still no intervention that has shown to be effective long term and cross-culturally. This thesis consists of two empirical studies. To advance knowledge of factors that influence pupils' victim support behaviour, the first study examined the role of perceived friend and peer consequences in predicting intentions to three types of help: provide emotional support, help to stop the bully and get adult support. Structural equation modelling revealed that perceived friend consequences were significantly associated with each of the victim support behaviours studied. Additionally, perceived peer reactions predicted intentions to get adult help. These findings suggest that friends play a more important role than peers in affecting victim support. Some significant gender effects emerged, showing that the overall pattern of associations held for boys, but not for girls. The findings highlight the concerns children hold with regard to their (dis)approving views related to victim support. Outcomes further suggest that victim defending should not be regarded as a broad homogeneous construct. The second study assessed the effectiveness of a cross-age teaching of social issues intervention (CATS) on enhancing pupils' knowledge on three victim support behaviours, and their awareness of the value of helping. In small cooperative groups older pupils were invited to step into the tutor role to prepare a lesson and teach it to two years younger tutees. An experimental-control group design was employed to test participants' performance at three time points over a six to eight week period. CATS tutors significantly improved their knowledge and awareness of the provictim behaviours studied while no positive changes were evident for participants in the control group. Furthermore, children who participated in the project expressed high satisfaction with the intervention. Based on the positive findings it was concluded that CATS is a viable technique for enhancing pupils' knowledge and awareness on prosocial topics. Helping children to see the value of supporting victims of bullying, in any of the ways studied, could help them avoid anticipating negative reactions from friends and peers, and in turn make it more likely that they would choose to help if the need arose.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118). Also available in print.

This project investigated the views of 49 university undergraduate students regarding the phenomenon of bullying in three distinct settings: their memories of compulsory education (primary and secondary), their personal workplace experience (or workplace study placement), and their life at one post-1992 university. The research design used 'active interviews' comprised of phases of interviewing individually and in groups, in which progressively deeper layers of interrogation sought to question their initial constructions of bullying. The study addressed two main research questions: how did students construct the concept of bullying in different contexts or settings, and how did the students explain differences in these constructions. The findings indicated that participants tended to view school-based bullying as being precipitated by within-person traits and personalities, but workplace bullying was thought to be driven by organisational structure or institutional ethos. Bullying at university was more difficult for them to discuss as most claimed little or no experience, directly or indirectly, of bullying while in higher education. As the study progressed, the participants expressed their understanding of bullying firstly through stereotyped and clichéd terms, but became much more critical and analytical when they were presented again with some of the contradictions and anomalies inherent in their earlier descriptions and explanations. Another important contribution to knowledge is the finding that participants viewed the higher education context as having several features that were protective against bullying behaviour, reducing their experience of bullying in HE to almost nil. These features: porosity, value of the learner to the institution, and voluntarism, were shown to hold important implications for understanding bullying in organisations or institutions; they develop and extend existing models found in adjacent fields of study.

Bullying occurs to some extent in all schools. Study 1 investigated and screened for frequently bullied students in a randomly selected and stratified sample of Year 4 students in 29 primary schools using multiple informants and a comprehensive measure of bullying. Using self- and/or parent-report, 16.3% of students were identified as frequently bullied, defined as 'about once a week' or more. There were no sex differences in the proportion of students identified as frequently bullied, however, frequently bullied boys were more likely to experience physical bullying and having money or other things taken away or broken. Self- and parent-report revealed significantly more depressive and anxiety symptoms, somatic complaints, and lower peer self-concept and general self-worth in frequently bullied students. Furthermore, a greater proportion of frequently bullied students experienced clinical levels of depressive, anxiety and/or somatic symptoms. The results clearly highlight the need for interventions that reduce and prevent the distress of frequently bullied students. In taking a universal approach to bullying intervention, it is important that the needs of targeted groups are not overlooked. In Study 2, a group randomised controlled trial with follow-up investigated the impact of the first year of a universal whole-school bullying preventive intervention, Friendly Schools, on the psychological health of frequently bullied students aged 8-9 years. The program utilised the Health Promoting Schools (HPS) approach to facilitate implementation of classroom curriculum, whole-school policy and practice, and partnerships with parents. / At post-intervention and 4-month follow-up the proportion of students who remained frequently bullied did not differ across the groups. Furthermore, there were no significant group differences on self-report victimisation frequency or self and parent-report health outcomes. A preventive effect was revealed however, when students were categorised to clinical and healthy subgroups on the basis of student report pre-intervention scores on the Children's Depression Inventory and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. A greater proportion of intervention students with low levels of depression and/or anxiety remained healthy at post-intervention, compared to control group children. However, this effect was not maintained at follow-up and the intervention did not reduce symptoms into a healthy range for frequently bullied children reporting high levels of symptomology at pre-intervention. Process evaluation revealed moderate to high levels of use and satisfaction with Friendly Schools by school staff, students and parents. These results suggest that the universal intervention protected students who were frequently bullied from developing clinical levels of depressive and/or anxiety symptoms in the short term. This is a positive finding given that a universal approach acknowledges the social context of bullying and is highly suitable to the school environment, offering economy, practicality and reduced stigmatisation of bullied students. / However, the lack of maintenance of the result emphasises the need for an on-going, multi-year approach. Furthermore, to effectively meet the mental health needs of frequently bullied students already experiencing high levels of symptoms, levels of intervention beyond universal are required. Schools and related health services should address this finding in their planning and implementation of intervention aimed at addressing bullying and helping students victimised by their peers. To help achieve this, further research is required to determine effective targeted strategies that complement universal, whole-school action.

Thesis (Ed.Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Bullying can be defined as repeatedly harming others verbally, emotionally, or physically. There has been past research on the relationship between bullying and aggression; this prior research has concluded that bullies have high levels of aggression and are more likely to be aggressive adults. It has also been reported that victims have lower aggression levels than bullies in young adulthood (Olweus, 1993). It is because of events such as the Columbine high school shooting that this study is being conducted. The purpose of this research is to reevaluate aggression levels in both bullies and their victims. It seems that the attitudes of today's bullies and their victims have changed, specifically the victim's aggression patterns. This study will reevaluate bully and victim aggression levels and compare them to past data as well as show the comparison of the results between the groups within the study. The results of this research may redirect the attention of bullying intervention and prevention to a new group of individuals, the victims.

Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2009. / Title from title screen (viewed 7/15/2009). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94).