Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Round Island is a 219 hectares islet north of the Mauritian mainland and has been classified as a Nature Reserve since 1957. The island has been subjected to human influence in the form of land degradation through introduced grazing animals (goats and rabbits) which has detrimentally affected the floral and faunal ecology of the island. Since the removal of the grazers, intensive conservation management has been undertaken to restore Round Island’s unique ecological status. The aim of this research project was to investigate erosion phenomena at specific study sites on Round Island through field-based classification and mapping procedures and describe physical soil characteristics. A modified version of the SARCCUS (1981) Erosion Classification system was used to classify linear erosion forms in the field, based on morphometric parameters. The effect of rock hardness was also assessed to determine lithological controls on bedrock-incised erosion features. Given the size of Round Island and the extensive nature of erosion, five study sites were chosen for the soil and erosion assessment. An additional two gully networks, ‘camp’ and ‘big’ gully were chosen to allow the investigation of an entire erosion system. Soils are thin and discontinuous, with a sandy texture and are poorly sorted. The Helipad habitat has the coarsest soils indicative of wind erosion where the deflation of fines leaves a coarser gravel pavement. No significant differences are found between sites for soil physical properties, with the exception of pH where the Summit has a significantly lower pH than the Helipad (Mann- Whitney U test, z= -2.21, p= 0.03) and Rock Slab (Mann- Whitney U test, z= -2.93, p< 0.01) habitat regions. No linear erosion forms are found on the soils of Round Island, however bedrock incised rills and gullies extensively occur. The Summit, Rock Slab and Palm Savannah habitats represent erosion processes along a profile gradient on the steep, convex western slope. The Summit habitat is subject predominantly to sheetwash and wind erosion, with the presence of two bedrock-incised rills of moderate severity. The Rock Slab region is predominated by parallel, shallow bedrock rills and gullies running downslope with moderate and slight severity, respectively. Soil and vegetation cover is highly variable within the region. Downslope, the Palm Savannah region is subject to moderate gully erosion with an irregular morphology. Soil is transported during rainfall within the gully channels where it is ultimately lost to sea. The two large gully systems, ‘camp’ and ‘big’ gully represent erosion of the highest severity on Round Island. The gullies have their starting points on the mid- upslope regions as rills, which increase in width and depth downslope, as indicated by decreasing width: depth ratios. The gullies have their end point at sea, both with a severity of very severe bedrock-gully erosion. During periods of intense rainfall the bedrock-incised gullies act as transport channels for sediment which is ultimately lost to sea. Little sediment is able to remain and this is exemplified by a lack of vegetation. This is a natural cycle where conservation efforts will remain ineffective. In addition to morphology, rock hardness was assessed using a Schmidt Hammer for the bedrock incised forms. The rate of erosion of the bedrock dominated channels depends on various factors such as rock strength, sediment supply and grain size. The predominant rock type on Round Island is tuff which is a relatively weak volcanic rock, as indicated by low mean Schmidt Hammer R-values, implicating higher expected bedrock erosion rates. / Mini-dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Zoology and Entomology / MSc / Unrestricted

Thesis (M. A. (Research Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / The study investigated prevalence rates and psychological consequences of bullying in schools within the Sekgosese West Circuit, Capricorn District, Limpopo Province. Participants were identified and drawn through stratified random sampling. The final sample consisted of 670 learners enrolled for Grades 8, 9 and 10, 49% of whom fell in the 14-15 years old age group, and 56% being female. Data were collected using a structured, composite questionnaire, within a cross-sectional research design. The results of the study show that most bullies and the bullied-bullies were male learners, and rates of the bullied were evenly split between male and female learners. The largest proportions of bullies and the bullied-bullies were the youngest and the oldest age groups. The oldest group was the largest group of the bullied. The largest proportions of the bullies and the bullied were in grade 8, and the proportion of the bullied-bullies was almost the same in grades 8 and 10, edging the proportion found in grade 9. The investigation also found that learners who were not involved in bullying experienced the least amounts of psychological distress. However, the bullies, bullied and bullied-bullies obtained mean scores that were not statistically different from each other from the measures of psychological distress used in this study. It is concluded from the results of the study that bullying is common in the Sekgosese West Circuit, and its psychological consequences are same for all the learners who involved in bullying one way or another. It is recommended that the study be replicated in other districts of Limpopo, and the context of bullying itself be considered as a candidate for inclusion in future studies. Key words: Bullied, bully, bullied-bully, learners, psychological distress

Research into bullying has been mainly quantitative, and of the few existing qualitative studies, fewer still have explored the perspectives of identified bullies. This study employs a mixed method design within a personal construct psychology perspective. The main research questions were: how do young people who bully others construe themselves and those whom they bully and what problems does bullying behaviour solve for those who bully. This was achieved by carrying out in-depth repertory grid analysis, content analysis of grid constructs and construct poles from self-characterisations. Participants were recruited from educational support centres, and were identified as individuals who display bullying behaviours. This study revealed that the participants tended to construe themselves in quite concrete terms, and as actively socially interactive. Participants construed themselves when bullying in terms of low tenderness, high forcefulness and emotional arousal. They construed typical victims in terms of high tenderness, low forcefulness and low status. The element „self when bullying‟ was found to be more elaborated and meaningful to the group than the element „self when not bullying‟. This might suggest that the participants have a more elaborated construct system in this area because it is causing them particular difficulties. Implicative dilemmas were identified for all the participants as potential barriers to change. For two participants this seemed directly relevant to understanding why their bullying behaviours may be difficult to change. Potential interventions drawing on personal construct psychology methods are discussed. One of this study‟s limitations was its small sample size, however the study shows support for using repertory grid methods to investigate bullying among young people and further research is recommended.

<p>The objective of this study was trying to understand bullying focusing on the bully. The questions at issue were: What can contribute in the making of a bully? What are the benefits and losses in bullying? What are the former bullies’ thoughts on bullying, now in comparison to in their youth. This was investigated with a qualitative approach from a former bullys perspective, hence three former bullies were interviewed. The result was presented in themes and was then analysed from a social psychological and social constructionist perspective. In the discussion the result was also compared to the previous research.</p><p>Results showed that all interviewed former bullies claim to have had a secure childhood. They all moved and transferred to another school, after which the bullying began or escalated. The interviewees or their friends started using tobacco, alcohol and drugs at an early age. They were deviant in several ways and the bullying was a part of their behaviour. The interviewees had a central position in their groups of friends. The interviewees testified that they had been aggressive and had a bad temper.</p><p>The interviewees used the bullying partly to conceal their insecurity. Often the bullying concerned status and struggle for social position. The interviewees did not feel remorse at the time and they did not see them self as bullies. Now they consider that what they did was wrong, but they do not feel guilt.</p>

The objective of this study was trying to understand bullying focusing on the bully. The questions at issue were: What can contribute in the making of a bully? What are the benefits and losses in bullying? What are the former bullies’ thoughts on bullying, now in comparison to in their youth. This was investigated with a qualitative approach from a former bullys perspective, hence three former bullies were interviewed. The result was presented in themes and was then analysed from a social psychological and social constructionist perspective. In the discussion the result was also compared to the previous research. Results showed that all interviewed former bullies claim to have had a secure childhood. They all moved and transferred to another school, after which the bullying began or escalated. The interviewees or their friends started using tobacco, alcohol and drugs at an early age. They were deviant in several ways and the bullying was a part of their behaviour. The interviewees had a central position in their groups of friends. The interviewees testified that they had been aggressive and had a bad temper. The interviewees used the bullying partly to conceal their insecurity. Often the bullying concerned status and struggle for social position. The interviewees did not feel remorse at the time and they did not see them self as bullies. Now they consider that what they did was wrong, but they do not feel guilt.

Alla vill tillhöra något och vara med likasinnade. Mobbning är ett samhällsproblem som kan få förödande effekter, inte bara för de inblandade utan för alla. Syftet med denna kvalitativa intervjustudie var att undersöka hur mobbning bidrar till individers identitetsskapande hos subgrupps-medlemmar samt att undersöka vilken betydelse det har haft för individens sökande efter grupptillhörighet i subgrupper. Med en socialpsykologisk ansats studerades detta genom teorier om social identitet, konformitet, stämplingsteorin och gruppdynamik. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med individer som tidigare varit utsatta för mobbning och som sökt sig till olika subgrupper. Resultaten visar att mobbning uppstår för att andra individer anser att andra människor på något sätt sticker ut från folkmassan, att identiteter ser olika ut för olika individer och att människor söker sig till subgrupper där de kan känna sig som hemma. / Everyone wants to belong to something and be with like-minded people. Bullying is a societal problem that can have devastating effects, not only for those involved but for everyone. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to investigate how bullying contributes to individuals identity creation in subgroup members and to investigate what significance it has had for the individual's search for group affiliation in subgroups. With a social psychological approach, this was studied through theories of social identity, conformity, the labeling theory and group dynamics. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who had previously been exposed to bullying and who applied to different subgroups. The results show that bullying occurs because other individuals believe that other people in some way stand out from the crowd, that identities look different for different individuals and that people seek out subgroups where they can feel at home.

The research reported in this thesis investigated the reputational orientations and aggressive behaviour of primary school aged bullies. It also sought to determine whether the reputational orientations of bullies who were loners differed to those who had established friendship networks. To achieve the research aims four separate yet inter-related studies were conducted. Study One explored the construct of reputation and its relevance to the bullying behaviours of 23 male and 23 female Grade 5 (10 year old) children from eight separate primary schools. All of these children had been suspended from school because of their bullying. Semi structured interviews revealed that reputation was an important construct to bullies, primarily because of the feelings of strength, power, and social status attributed to them by others as a result of their bullying. They also reported that the type of image and status they attained from bullying others was what they were actively seeking. To achieve their desired image different types of overt and covert bullying acts were perpetrated. The bullies also revealed that they carefully selected the physical locations where they bullied others so as to maximize the visibility of their actions to others. The school oval, playground and toilets were the most popular locations, but the use of new media such as mobile phones and the internet allowed them to bully others without the presence of an audience. The bullies also reported that their victims communicated what had happened to them to others, which disseminated their actions to a wider audience. It was clearly evident from Study One that the construct of reputation was important to bullies and was worthy of further investigation.

Le bullying est un comportement agressif insidieux caractérisé par : sa répétitivité, sa dissymétrie et son intentionnalité, dans lequel on identifie quatre statuts pour chaque individu : agresseur, victime, agresseur/victime, neutre. Si de nombreuses recherches se sont intéressées aux conséquences psychopathologiques du bullying sur les victimes, peu d‟études ont été consacrées aux différences de fonctionnement psychologique des adolescents selon leur statut. Notre recherche se réfère au modèle du traitement de l‟information sociale de Crick et Dodge (1994). Celui-Ci stipule l‟existence de six étapes de traitement en interaction avec des processus centraux tels que la régulation des émotions et la gestion des compétences sociales. Deux expériences ont été conduites. Dans le cadre d‟un entretien individuel et semi-Directif, 717 collégiens ont répondu à différents questionnaires concernant le bullying et le traitement de l‟information sociale. Dans les deux recherches nous avons procédé à des analyses statistiques. Les principaux résultats révèlent l'existence de profils de traitement de l‟information différentiels propres à chaque statut / Bullying is an insidiously aggressive behavior characterized by repetitiveness, asymmetry (a bully dominating his victim) and intent to do harm (Olweus, 1993). Any individual concerned will fall into one of four categories: bully, victim, bully/victim or not involved. If numerous researchers have taken an interest in the psychopathological impact of bullying on its victims, there have been few studies devoted to the differences in the psychology of adolescents depending on their status in bullying. Our research refers to the theoretical pattern of Crick and Dodge (1994) to process social information. They contend the information will be processed in six stages in interaction with the central nervous system which involves the regulation of emotions and the command of social skills. We have carried out two experiments. In the course of semi-Structured individual interviews, seven hundred and seventeen (717) secondary school students answered different sets of questions about bullying and social information processing mechanisms. In both studies we have performed statistical analyses. The main results show different types of information processing depending on the status in bullying

La tesi analizza la costruzione sociale di bulli e vittime nei quotidiani italiani (La Repubblica e il Corriere della Sera) e inglesi (The Guardian and The Times) attraverso il metodo della classical content analysis. La prima parte riguarda la rewiew dei principali contributi teorici e analitici in merito a: costruzionismo sociale, costruzione sociale dei mass media della criminalità, devianza giovanile e fenomeno del bullismo. La seconda parte, interessa l’analisi dei profili di bulli e vittime nei quotidiani italiani e inglesi. L’ultima parte è relativa alla comparazione dei profili emersi sia nelle due fonti di informazione, sia con i profili contenuti nella letteratura scientifica sul bullismo. I risultati evidenziano come i quotidiani sia italiani, sia inglesi seguano modalità stereotipate di rappresentazione in linea con i contributi scientifici relativi alla costruzione sociale della devianza giovanile e della violenza nelle scuole. / The thesis analyses the social construction of bullies and victims in a sample of Italian (La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera) and English newspapers (The Guardian and the Times) applying a classical content analysis methodology. The main scientific literature on social constructionism, mass media and social construction of crime and youth crime is reviewed as well as the theoretical and research contributions on bullying. The images of bullies and victims delivered by Italian and English newspaper are further assessed and compared to the extant literature on the topic. Differences emerge both between newspapers and in regard to the theoretical and research contributions on bullies and victims, underlying specific stereotyped ways of newspapers to depict bullies and victims. Findings are consistent with previous research investigating the way mass media have depicted youth crime and in particular school violence.