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.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The majority of research on bullying focuses on learner-to-learner bullying, and educators are rarely identified or viewed as victims of bullying. This area of research is largely neglected, despite its serious negative outcomes such as burnout, deterioration in the educator–learner relationship and disintegrated of the educator and learning culture.

This study holistically examines the status quo of learner-on-learner bullying in South African schools. An exposition is given pertaining to inter alia constitutional law, common law, statutory provisions and case law. Since bullying is a global problem, a legal comparative study is necessary in order to place the phenomenon of bullying into context. Concepts such as bystander behaviour, bullycide and restorative justice feature prominently in this dissertation. Important findings include the necessity of drafting of anti-bullying legislation as well as the inception of bullycide as a statutory crime. Furthermore, restorative justice processes are critically important to not only rehabilitate and reintegrate the bully, but also to vindicate the victim in a way that protects and promotes the rights of all parties involved. Recommendations are made with regard to the importance of a national anti-bullying policy to be implemented in conjunction with existing codes of conduct. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Private Law / unrestricted

Denna studie omfattar mobbning inom föreningsidrotten, vi har valt att undersöka om Malmös idrottsföreningar har någon nedskriven antimobbningspolicy och/eller – handlingsplan och därutöver har vi intervjuat tio föreningar om hur de konkret arbetar med mobbningsfrågor. Vi har också valt att titta på samverkan mellan skolan och idrottsförening vid mobbnings incidenter. Studien bygger på kvalitativ forskningsmetodik, totalt 14 intervjuer. Anledningen till varför studien grundar sig i kvalitativ metod är för att vi vill se orsaken bakom fenomenet, ej generalisera svaren samt att den är mindre resurskrävande. De teorier som studien brukar är Pierre Bourdieu och Tomas Peterson samt teorier som definierar mobbning, stadgar, policy och handlingsplan. Den konklusion vi kommit fram till är att selektion inom idrott och skola är bidragande faktorer gällande mobbning. Även att det finns ett dilemma mellan de olika fälten om vem som skall lösa problematiken, då problemet är vems ansvar det är att lösa problematiken. Den tredje konklusionen är behovet av att idrottsföreningar skall ha en antimobbningspolicy och/eller – handlingsplan.Syftet med denna studie är att problematisera samt diskutera ämnet mobbning inom föreningsidrotten i Malmö. Hur problemet hanteras inom samhällets två viktiga uppfostringsfält, idrott – skola. Problematiseringen utvecklar sig med hjälp av textanalyser, intervjuer och en kartläggning av respektive antimobbningsdokument i idrottsföreningar.Frågeställningar Har Malmös idrottsföreningar en nedskriven antimobbningspolicy och/eller – handlingsplan? Har föreningen någon gång aktivt under de tre senaste år agerat vid en mobbningssituation? Hur samarbetar idrottsföreningar med skolan vid mobbnings incedenter? Hur gick föreningen tillväga?NyckelordMobbning, Antimobbningspolicy, Antimobbningshandlingsplan, Selektion och Fält / This study is about bullying in sports, we decided to examine whether Malmo’s athletic associations have any anti-bullying documents, such as a policy and/or a plan of action and in excess of that we have also interviewed ten athletic associations about how they substantially work with anti-bullying questions. We have also chosen to take a look at the co-operation between the school and the athletic association when bullying incidents occur. The fundamental ground of this study is based on qualitative method, a total of 14 interviewees. The reason why the study is based on this method is because we wanted to see the reason that lies behind the phenomenon. We didn’t want to generalize the replies, and it is less time taking. This study consists of theories such as Pierre Bourdieu and Tomas Peterson and theories which define bullying, regulations, policy and plan of action. The conclusion that we came to is that selection in sports and school is a primary factor when it comes to bullying. There is a dilemma between the different fields which cause the issue and the subject gets caught between different fields. The third conclusion is the need of athletic associations to have an anti-bullying document. The purpose of this study is to make an issue and also discuss about the subject bullying within the athletic associations in Malmo. How the issue is handled in the society’s two most important educational fields, sport – school. The issue is developed through text analyses, interviews and a mapping of respective anti-bullying document in the athletic associations.QuestionsDo Malmo’s athletic associations have a written anti-bullying policy and/or plan of action? Have the athletic association had to react to a bullying situation during the last three years? How does the athletic associations co-operate with the school regarding bullying incidents? How did they perform their actions?KeywordBullying, Anti-bullying policy, Anti-bullying plan of action, Selection and Field

Legal principles need to be considered when anti-bullying policies are established in public schools where bullying is taking place. The purpose of this study is to investigate how public schools establish anti-bullying policies and which legal principles are considered during the cyclic policy-making process. The research questions are: (1) How do public schools establish their anti-bullying policies? (2) Which legal principles are considered during the process of establishing anti-bullying policies? To answer these questions, four policies collected from participating schools were studied using a document study data collection method and eighteen participants were interviewed using semi-structured individual interviews. This research utilised a qualitative case study design. The study involved two primary schools and two secondary schools in the Witbank area. Themes such as needs analysis, type of policy used to deal with bullying, formulation of anti-bullying policy, policy implementation, policy monitoring and policy evaluation were developed. Research findings show that the content of the anti-bullying policies is not clearly incorporated and is not sufficient. Most policies have few legal principles that are relevant to bullying. There is insufficient stakeholder involvement in terms of needs identification, policy formulation, implementation and monitoring, as well as evaluation of policies that deal with bullying. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The purpose of this research study was to explore the effectiveness of the KiVa anti-bullying programme with Grade 4 learners in a primary school, located in the Eden Central Karoo District of the Western Cape. Since bullying is a worldwide phenomenon, it is important to explore to what extent it is an issue in South Africa. International anti-bullying programmes, which are well researched and highly recommended, are described with an overview of the integration of systems theory with the practicalities of this research project. A mixed methods intervention design was used to collect data. Grade four learners completed questionnaires prior to and after implementation of the intervention programme, which comprised the quantitative data. The experiment schools Grade 4 Life Skills teachers led the implementation of the programme. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the Grade 4 teachers and the principal of the experiment school. The findings demonstrate that the implementation process over less than a year, did raise awareness and certain skills were developed and practised by learners. The effectiveness of the KiVa anti-bullying programme during a short period of six months, did establish consciousness and a change in attitude and behaviour. A statistically significant difference for two of the three categories, experiences at school (bullying) and about your life (well-being), of the questionnaire from before the implementation to after the implementation of the intervention programme was indicated at the experiment school. Thus, implications for future research regarding the implementation of the KiVa school-based programme are suggested. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)