Thesis (M. Ed.) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Bullying is a major challenge that affects learners in schools world-wide. Negative effects of bullying on learners are physical and psychological including depression, anxiety and school declining performances. Every learner is entitled to a safe school environment without being a victim or a bystander of bullying. Therefore the main objective was to explore strategies that could be implemented to manage bullying in schools. A qualitative approach with a case study was used to provide an understanding of the phenomenon of bullying and how it could be managed. The grade three and six learners of two former model-c schools in Potgietersrus circuit in Limpopo Province were purposively selected as participants with the aim of representing learners in the junior and intermediate phase. Observation, interviews and document analysis were used as data collection methods. The data collected was developed through thematic content data. The results indicated that bullying is receiving increasing attention with appropriate responsiveness and effective management strategies. Additional measures that can help reduce the prevalence of bullying and impact were explored and included bullying intervention strategies, increased playground supervision, behaviour modification strategies, encouraging learners to report bullying incidents and the adoption of School Based Support Team to assist in combating bullying. It is recommended that the department of education, educators and learners can adopt the explored strategies as part of intervention process to combat bullying in the school environment and to ensure that schools are still seen as safe places for all learners

School bullying has become a serious issue in U.S. schools, with children being harassed, hurt, and even killed or driven to suicide or homicide as a result of being bullied. Bullying in schools has persisted despite the various intervention measures taken to curtail the phenomenon. The purpose of this phenomenological exploration was to explore how teachers and principals at a U.S. middle school perceive the school's existing bullying programs and elicit recommendations about how to improve the programs. The theoretical basis of this investigation was Bandura's social learning theory. Data were collected through interviews with 4 principles and 6 teachers. Interview data were transcribed, and then coded and analyzed using a modified Van Kaam procedure, as revised by Moustakas. Nine themes emerged from the data analysis that encompassed participants' perceptions of the causes of bullying and how teachers and principals can help to prevent bullying. The key finding is that teachers reported that more professional training to reduce bullying is needed. Additionally, social learning theory is explanatory of participant experiences as they noted that encouraging positive behavior, kindness, and empathy in the classroom will help minimize bullying conduct in schools. This study may foster societal change by providing insight to educational leaders about how to improve antibullying programs, which may lead to reductions in school dropout rates, incidents of homicide and suicide as a result of school bullying, and other antisocial behaviors associated with school bullying.

Thesis (M. Com. (Human Resources Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This study investigated the relationship between organisational culture and workplace bullying among non-academic staff at a South African University. A quantitative research method was adopted and a sample size of 200 non-academic staff was randomly recruited. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire which consisted of questions from the Negative Acts Questionnaire and the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The hierarchical culture was found to be the dominant organisational culture and that workplace bullying incidences occurred weekly within the organisation. Regression analysis results showed a significant negative relationship between clan culture and workplace bullying while a positive and significant relationship was established between hierarchical culture and workplace bullying. Conversely, the link between adhocracy and market culture with workplace bullying was found to be insignificant. University top management was recommended to design internal policies with clear reporting procedures to eliminate workplace bullying incidences.

This study investigated the issue of student cyberbullying in Florida's public middle schools. First, a content analysis of six Florida school district anti-bullying policies was conducted to determine the alignment between the state model policy and district policies. Next, 68 middle school principals from the same six Florida school districts completed the Cyberbullying Policies and Response Principal Survey online. Survey respondents were either members or non-members of the state mentoring team against bullying and harassment. Findings showed that all six school districts' anti-bullying policies were comprehensive in addressing the definitions of bullying behaviors, to include cyberbullying, as well as for reporting and responding to bullying incidents. However, it was found that improvements could be made concerning periodic review and updating of bullying policies as well as addressing issues of inclusiveness. Additionally, it was found that the middle school principals were generally aware of the seriousness of cyberbullying regardless of their membership status on the state mentoring team against bullying and harassment. They enforced both technology and bullying policies to prevent and respond to student cyberbullying. This was done either by their own initiative or as directed by the school districts. It was also discovered that principals were sensitive to the fact that students at their schools had been cybervictims, cyberbullies, or both. Moreover, principals believed that a majority of those activities occurred off-campus. It remains, though, uncertain as to what factors influence whether or not a school has a campus specific cyberbullying policy. However, principals conveyed an understanding that education about and enforcement of cyberbullying policies was imperative. Hence, more research is needed to determine how educators can continue to confront this type of adolescent aggression both on and off-campus.

Teachers are faced with numerous interruptive bullying behaviors in middle school classrooms, which brought the quality of education into question. Bullying victims have shown decreased rates of academic success, measured by lower grades, compared to those not involved in bullying. The purpose of this basic interpretative qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of classroom bullying from the perspectives and experiences of 10 middle school teachers. The research questions examined teachers' experiences in witnessing bullying in their classrooms and the strategies they used to identify and effectively avert bullying in school. Bandura's theories of moral disengagement and social learning theory of aggression informed and provided a framework for the research process. Information was gathered from 10 purposefully selected middle school teachers through personal interviews. Data analysis included coding, categorizing, and thematic analysis. The resulting themes revealed that teachers and school counselors played the most important role in bullying prevention. Physical, verbal, and cyberbullying were perceived as the major types of bullying in the middle school. Teachers reported that more bullying professional development was needed. Given the negative short and long term outcomes associated with bullying, the bullying phenomenon merits serious attention for preventive intervention. Social change will be realized when teachers become more knowledgeable of specific school bullying policies and are able to respond effectively to bullying incidents in schools. Subsequently, students will be able to enter peaceful, productive classrooms and schools.

The purpose of this dissertation is to extend General Strain Theory (GST) to examine prosocial, asocial, and antisocial behavior in response to bullying. In GST, Agnew (1992; 2001; 2013) asserted that negative emotions can lead to criminal or aggressive coping but there are a number of factors that increase or decrease the propensity to respond aggressively (Agnew, 1992; Richman & Leary, 2009). In this dissertation, I examine whether and how rejection (operationalized as bullying victimization) is associated with aggressive responding as opposed to prosocial (e.g., befriending others) or asocial (e.g., avoiding people and social events) responding. This dissertation consists of three studies testing theoretical variables of bullying victimization as well as behavioral responses to four types of bullying: physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Study 1 of this dissertation examines risk and protective factors for types of bullying victimization. Study 2 applies GST to test the effect of social support, or the availability of alternative relationships (i.e., having others to count on or turn to for social support), on responses to four types of bullying. Study 3 tests the effect of power dynamics on responses to physical and relational bullying. In conducting this research, I hope to: 1) integrate interdisciplinary bodies of literature to examine risk and protective factors of bullying victimization and behavioral responses to bullying and 2) improve understanding of how these experiences are affected by the power dynamics involved in bullying. Overall, the results of this dissertation suggest that types of negative emotions and behavioral outcomes vary by type of bullying victimization. Cyber bullying was found to have more negative consequences than any other form of bullying. Across all four forms of bullying, social support was found to be associated with an increased likelihood of youth engaging in prosocial behavior. Implicit power, or the perception that one’s bully has a high social standing at school, significantly influenced responses based on the type of bullying. However, even when controlling for power dynamics, social support was still associated with increased prosocial behavior in response to bullying victimization. Theory and policy implications are discussed.

This study investigated the severity of bullying perpetration in secondary schools in the Uthungulu District of KwaZulu-Natal. The study further sought to establish the various types of bullying that were rife in secondary schools, the factors that contributed to bullying perpetration and the negative impact of bullying behaviour on all stakeholders of the school system. An in-depth literature study was conducted in this regard. Accordingly, various theories relevant to the phenomenon were explored exhaustively. A qualitative research design and methodology was employed to investigate the phenomenon through interviews with participants from five secondary schools, including the circuit manager of the circuit concerned. Strict ethical principles were adhered to throughout and the study was also evaluated for reliability and validity. The study found that the factors that contributed considerably to the problem of bullying in secondary schools were embedded at the level of the family, the school and the community. In addition, the study established that the impact of bullying was so severe that it affected the day- to- day functioning of the school from a management perspective where a considerable amount of time was spent managing the problem, substantially reducing valuable teaching time. The impact was also felt significantly among victims who experienced low self-esteem, humiliation, embarrassment and palpable levels of stress and anxiety that ultimately led to appreciable rates of absenteeism, truancy, dropping out of school, transfers to other schools, ill-health, depression and even suicide. On the basis of the findings of the literature study and the empirical investigation, a model to curb bullying was developed, which required all stakeholders of the secondary schools in the Uthungulu District of KwaZulu-Natal to work collectively as a team to manage the problem effectively and efficiently. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on May 3, 2010). School of Social Work, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Margaret E. Adamek, Valerie N. Chang, Nancy Chism, Rebecca S. Sloan, Lorraine Blackman, Matthew C. Aalsma. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-241).

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Bully victimization takes place within a social context of youths’ parents, peers, teachers, school administrators, and community. Victims often rely on parents, educators, or peers for support. However, there is a gap in the literature in understanding parents’ experiences of what occurs before, during, and after reporting bullying to school officials. Therefore, this dissertation study examined parents’ experiences in discovering, reporting, and living through the aftermath of their child being bullied. This study used a purposeful sample that was criterion-based. Nine mothers and one mother/father pair were tape-recorded using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Follow-up phone interviews followed. Key themes and patterns were analyzed using the philosophical method of interpretive phenomenology based on Heidegger’s philosophy of being. Exemplars were used to illuminate several themes. Results suggest three unique stages. In the first stage, discovery, parents often noticed psychosocial changes in their child related to bullying. Parents often responded initially by providing advice to their children. When signs of their schoolchildren being bullied persisted, parents decided to report the incidents to school officials. Nine parents reported incomplete interventions that let their youths’ victimization continue. One parent, a paradigm case, shared understandings of how her son’s school official provided a full intervention that was restorative. However, all other parents who received an incomplete intervention found themselves rethinking how to protect their children from bullying. In this aftermath, several parents moved their children out of the school into a new district or began to home school. However, half the parents were left unable to move their child and therefore could not provide protection. Indiana’s anti-bullying law was unknown to eight parents and was unsuccessful in leveraging protection for one parent who used it with school officials as a threat. School official’s responses to bullying were incongruent with student handbook procedures. Recommendations from a parent’s perspective indicate school officials must: 1) have a clear process in place for parents to report, 2) follow through by calling parents back with results from investigating and procedures that will be taken to intervene, and 3) call the bullies’ and victims’ parents to notify what has occurred and what will be done to ensure safety. Discussed are implications for school officials, including social workers, and state policymakers. There is a proposed intervention model (Appendix J) that addresses how parents can respond to school officials who are hesitant to provide bullied youth protection.

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)