Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-93).

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The present study aimed at investigating the effects of empathy and situational sympathy on the helping tendency of bystanders in school bullying incidents, and thus, provide some insights for the school anti-bullying programmes. One hundred and seventy one junior secondary school students participated in the study. Results indicate that, on top of empathy, situational sympathy is an additional predictor of helping tendencies in bullying incidents. Moreover, situational sympathy further promotes the “Stop the bully” act in verbal, physical and cyber bullying. Students at higher grade level displayed lower helping tendency in verbal and cyber bullying situations. The bystander effect was not supported also. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future investigation, were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This dissertation consists of three distinct yet inter-related research papers in labor economics, each with relevance for public policy. The first chapter examines the role of wage differentials for caring work in explaining the gender wage gap. We find that both women and men face caring penalties that are small, about 2% for one standard deviation difference in caring. While women disproportionately work in caring jobs, it is unlikely that policies governing wages in the care sector could achieve pay equity between men and women. The second chapter evaluates the impact of state legislation on bullying in schools. I employ a difference-in-differences approach exploiting variation across states in the timing and type of law adopted using nationally representative surveys at the student and school levels. While I find no impact of the laws on bullying in high schools, bullying occurs most often in middle school. And impacts might vary by school type and legislation type. I also discuss current challenges to evaluating bullying legislation and provide recommendations for facilitating a conclusive assessment of whether state bullying laws work. The third chapter uses a field experiment to evaluate an intervention aimed at increasing participation in an academic assistance program. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a widely used, but poorly evaluated, peer-tutoring program with low participation rates. We randomize encouragements to attend SI across a large student population. The resulting boost in participation allows us to estimate the per-session average causal impact of SI on grades for a subpopulation under certain assumptions.

In this study teachers provided responses indicating what actions they would take towards the bully and victim after watching three bullying vignettes in which the gender and race of the students varied. Significant differences revealed that when race, gender, or race and gender of teacher and student differ teachers are more likely to dismiss the victim or seek out adult resources. If the race or gender or race and gender of teacher and student were the same then teachers indicated that they would comfort the victim with more frequency, use a wider array of approaches regarding the victim, and they would also reprimand the victim more. Females were more likely than males to show care toward the victims and Whites were more likely than non-Whites to dismiss the victim. No significant differences were found when comparing teacher responses by student characteristics alone. Implications for teachers and school counselors are discussed.

Bullying in schools is a big social problem in today’s society and it affects the children exposed in a very negative way. The aim of my paper is to find out if there is a group of students who gets bullied by other students more often than others. I want to study if children with functional disabilities get more bullied than children without functional disabilities and,if this is the case – why is it so? My questions are: Are children with functional disabilities particularly exposed to bullying? How is bullying prevented? In order to get my results I have made three qualitative interviews and analyzed two debate articles concerning bullying of the disabled. My theoretical approach emanates from social constructivism where relations between people are built on lingual interaction. Furthermore, I have raised the topic of social development. In order to achieve a healthy social development it is important that children feel that they belong to a group. In my paper, I have come to the conclusion that children with functional disorders probably are bullied more often than other children, especially those with a mental disability. A child with a social divergent behaviour is often considered strange among other children, and this may be a reason for bullying. School staff must prioritize their efforts to actively prevent bullying in their daily work. According to my opinion they must pay special attention to those who bullies when they carry out this preventive work.

Relational, or indirect, bullying amongst girls has more recently received greater attention from researchers across the globe, in recognition of its potentially devastating psychological effects. Particularly in South Africa, with its unique history of apartheid, racial and gender inequalities and violent struggles amongst marginalized communities to be given the freedom to have a voice, the tendency of girls to „hide‟ their aggression, and to express it in covert ways needs to be understood and addressed. Additionally, in South African schools, many educators do not adequately appreciate the grim reality of girls‟ aggression as an antecedent to serious psychiatric illness. These girls are already coping with the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is leaving many of them orphaned and raising younger siblings whilst still children themselves, thereby increasing their vulnerability to psychiatric adjustment difficulties. The present study therefore investigated the prevalence and psychological effects of relational bullying, and explored the developmental trajectory of different types of bullying amongst school-aged South African girls. The sample included 169 learners, from grade One to grade Twelve, in an independent school located in an urban area of KwaZulu-Natal. A self-report questionnaire, including direct questions and projective techniques, was utilized to collect data relating to the nature of girls‟ experiences of bullying, the psychological effects thereof, their friendships and their levels of social, cognitive and moral functioning. The current study showed a 33.5% prevalence rate of bullying victimization amongst the sample. It was hypothesized from a review of the literature that as girls grow older, and their skills in the cognitive, social and moral reasoning domains improve, friendship ties become closer and more important, and they utilize increasingly sophisticated forms of relational aggression. The research findings supported this prediction. In addition, it was found that older girls are increasingly negatively affected by girl-bullying, as reflected in a range of psychologically unhealthy reactions, which may constitute the precursors to psychiatric illness in adulthood. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The study is concerned with the ways early adolescent males understand and experience bullying within a hetero-normative school context. The research focuses on the ways in which bullying occurs, and how it relates to identity development amongst young boys. Key theoretical constructs include multiple masculinities, social dominance theory, and social constructionism. The researcher adopted an ethnographic approach. Constructs were explored through the use of four focus groups and one individual interview with 20 Grade 8 learners at a co-educational high school. Three dominant themes emerged from the discussions. The Embodied Self explores the expression and development of gender identity through the construction of the physical and performative male body. Displaced Masculinities explores the gradual shift in power that young men have experienced in terms of current representations of gender, race and technology. The third theme, Recovering Power, identifies subtle subversion strategies that young males reproduce to recover social power. Bullying is normalised within the school context and is understood as a physical and psychological process that differentiates desirable and undesirable masculinities. Masculinities are actively policed by peers, forcing boys to position themselves against the ideal hegemonic masculinity underpinning feelings of uncertainty and instability. Recommendations include continued opportunities for discussion of gender issues at a formative school level, focused policy development addressing the abuse of communication technologies, and translation of gender research into policy and legislation to recognise the role and responsibilities of men, with the major aim of reducing inequality. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

A cross-sectional survey design was used to establish the prevalence and form of bullying behaviour in a saturation sample of 385 Grade Eight and Nine female students in a KwaZulu-Natal high school. Relationships between peer relations, self-efficacy, conflict resolution strategies and bullying behaviour were investigated using well established measures with robust psychometric properties. The majority (79%) of students had been involved in bullying behaviour. Both direct and indirect forms of bullying were present. A significant predictive relationship between self-efficacy and peer relations was found (α.001 p<.005); quantity of friends was significant in predicting peer attachment style (Beta=.000 P<.005); level of victimisation predicted peer attachment style (Beta=.018 p<.05); and bullying roles were associated with specific dominant conflict resolution strategies (Victim & Accommodating 12%; Bully & Competing/Avoiding 10%; Bully-Victim & Competing/Avoiding 4%; Bystander & Collaborating 2%; Not bullied & Avoiding 6%). These findings are discussed in the context of the relevant empirical and theoretical literature on bullying and female psychosocial development. While the bully, victim, bully-victim and bystander differed in several important respects, further research is recommended to differentiate these roles in term of social relations, self-efficacy, identity development, psychosocial development and conflict resolution strategies in order to inform anti-bullying interventions within a school setting. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.