Sexual minority youth (i.e., youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or who report same-sex attractions) disproportionally experience negative mental health and academic outcomes. Yet, few studies have examined positive youth development for this population. The goal of these three manuscripts is to add new information about positive developmental contexts for sexual minority youth in order to generate ideas for intervention and prevention. More specifically, the focus of these three manuscripts is on school-based extracurricular activity involvement of sexual minority youth.Manuscript one presents results from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that compare sexual minority and heterosexual youth involvement in school-based extracurricular activities. Results documented that sexual minority youth are involved in school-based extracurricular activities at the same frequency as their heterosexual peers. For all youth, there was a small, but positive association between extracurricular activity involvement and school connectedness. School connectedness was associated with better mental health (i.e., higher self-esteem and lower depression), and these associations were stronger for sexual minority youth.Manuscript two presents results from the Preventing School Harassment Study that examine lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) youth involvement in Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs). GSAs are extracurricular clubs that are tailored to the needs of LGBQ youth. This study examined the concurrent associations among GSA presence, GSA membership, and participation in GSA-related social justice activities, with victimization based on sexual orientation and school-based and civic outcomes. GSA presence and participation in GSA-related social justice activities were positively associated with school belongingness and grade-point average (GPA), and GSA membership was associated with greater school belongingness. Results suggested, however, that the positive benefits of GSA presence and social justice involvement dissipate at high levels of school victimization.Manuscript three extends findings from manuscript two by examining the associations among GSA presence, GSA membership, perceived GSA effectiveness, and young adult well-being. The study utilized the Family Acceptance Project and found that the presence of a GSA, membership in a GSA, and GSA effectiveness differentially predicted LGBT young adult well-being. In some cases, these three facets of GSAs buffered the negative effect of LGBT-specific school victimization.

Šio edukologijos magistrų studijų darbo objektas yra teisinis švietimas kaip antrinės vaikų viktimizacijos prevencija. Siekiant atskleisti pagrindinį darbo tikslą, naudotasi literatūros šaltinių analizės metodu bei atliktas empirinis tyrimas, kuriuo siekta atskleisti Nacionalinės smurto prieš vaikus prevencijos ir pagalbos vaikams 2008-2010 metų programos vykdytojų požiūrį į prevencines programos galimybes. Siekiant tikslo, darbe buvo keliami tokie uždaviniai: 1.Atskleisti teisinio švietimo reikšmę ir paskirtį visuomenei. 2. Išsiaiškinti teisinius bei pedagoginius viktimizacijos sampratos aspektus ir aptarti Lietuvoje vykdomą viktimizacijos prevenciją. 3. Atskleisti vaiko aukos sampratą. 4. Išanalizuoti Lietuvoje vykdomas smurto prevencijos programas. 5. Nacionalinės smurto prieš vaikus prevencijos ir pagalbos vaikams 2008 – 2010 metų programos pagrindu atskleisti antrinės vaikų viktimizacijos prevencijos galimybes. Išsiaiškinti Nacionalinės smurto prieš vaikus prevencijos ir pagalbos vaikams 2008 – 2010 metų programos vykdytojų požiūrį į antrinės viktimizacijos prevencijos galimybes teisinio švietimo kontekste. Šie darbo uždaviniai sutampa su darbo skyriais ir atitinka šių skyrių turinį. Darbą apibendrina išvados, teigiančios, kad teisinis švietimas apima du komponentus – žinių, teorinį mokymą ir praktinį, paremtą teisės normomis grįsto elgesio įgūdžių formavimą. Konstatuojama, kad Lietuvoje egzistuoja visos viktimologijoje išskiriamos vaikų aukų grupės, kurios gali būti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This master work of educational sciences the object of this work is the law education as prevention of secondary victimisation. Scientific and methodical literature, empirical research analysis are being used within this work due to reach the results of Natioanal violence of children prevention and help for children 2008-2010 year program’s principals view to prevention of program possibilities. Tasks of the work: 1. To reveal law education sense and purpose for community. 2. To find out legal and educational victimizacion conception and dispute prevention of victimization this is held in Lithuania. 3. To discover child’s as a victim conception. 4. Traverse prevention forms which are held in Lithuania. 5. Natioanal violence of children prevention and help for children 2008-2010 year program’s possibilities as a secondary victimization prevention and principals view as a prevention of program possibilities in legal education context. These tasks are concident with the work chapters and due to the context. Conclusions of this work state that the essence of the law takes two components – knowledge, theoretical teaching and practical wich is held by the law tasks predicate behavioral skills modeling. In Lithuania we can find all groups of children victims, which can be victimizated one more time of increase victimization. Empirical research of this work permit to predicate that the secondary victimization prevention tools can be exist of qualitative researchs of aggrieved... [to full text]

Motivational changes due to individual differences and situational variations in ingroup identification can influence accessibility of memories of ingroup violence, victimization and glories. In Study 1, high identifiers recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than of ingroup suffering. As well, they recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than did low identifiers. In Study 2, a manipulation of ingroup identity produced shifts in memory. Relative to those in the low identity condition, participants in the high identity condition recalled fewer incidents of violence and hatred and more good deeds by members of their group. Participants in a control condition recalled more positive than negative group actions; this bias was exaggerated in the high identity condition and eliminated in the low identity condition. With respect to memories of ingroup tragedies, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that experimental reminders of ingroup suffering enhanced participants' sense of connectedness to the ingroup. The findings suggest that memories of ingroup aggressions threaten ingroup identity whereas memories of ingroup suffering enhance ingroup identity. Societal implications of the findings are discussed. The present research informs the literature on reconstructive memory by extending previous findings on the flexibility of personal memories to historical memory.

Tidigare forskning visar att brottsoffer påverkas i olika avseenden, de löper bland annat risk att utveckla post-traumatiskt stressyndrom och egentlig depression. Det sociala stödet har visat sig betydelsefullt för brottsoffers återhämtning. Den här studien har studerat hur personer som blivit utsatta för ett av tre specifika typer av brott påverkats av händelsen samt betydelsen av deras sociala stöd. Totalt åtta personer mellan åldrarna 25-75 med varierande sysselsättning deltog i studien. Hälften av deltagarna var kvinnor. Datainsamlingen skedde via intervjuer. Gemensamt för alla brottstyperna var upplevelsen av (1) att vara ekonomiskt drabbad, (2) påverkad psykiskt, (3) otrygghet och (4) bristande stöd från samhället. Speciellt framträdande vid personrån var dessutom ångest och rädsla, vid inbrott utanför hemmet ilska och tanken att det bara handlar om ersättbara föremål och vid inbrott i hemmet oro och tanken att det handlar om oersättliga föremål. Resultatet överensstämmer med tidigare forskning, dock framkom även tidigare oupptäckta komponenter.

Author: Tobias Aspegren Title: To call things by their right names – The example of bullying or victimization at work [Translated title] Supervisor: Ulf Drugge Assessor: Kerstin Arnesson   Purpose: The purpose of this study is, by a discourse psychological approach, to investigate how our choice of concept of a bullying situation at work can correlate with managers’ way of handling the situation. The issues I have answered in order to fulfill my purpose was first how the managers defined the concepts in the studies title, and second how the mangers handled a situation of bullying at work.   Method: I have used qualitative methods in my study in order to acquire my data. The method I used was semi-structured interviews. I analysed the results with a discourse psychological perspective by help of the theory’s concepts “interpretation repertoires” and “subjects positioning”. The participants of the study were four managers within the same organisation but in different manager positions, all with a work environment responsibility.   Results: The results and analysis of my study shows that there is a lack of knowledge of the concept “victimization” by those who are obligated the responsibility of the work environment. This can result in a situation of victimization at work that does not follow the correct law-bound recommendations written in AFS 2015:4 – Organisatorisk och Social Arbetsmiljö.   Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is that if the situation defines as either bullying or victimization, there will be follow-up meetings with the victim. But due to the lack of knowledge by the concept “victimization” there is an increased risk that the situation will not be handled in the way it should, in accordance with the AFS 2015:4, but will only be handled as temporary conflict.   Keywords: Use of concepts, bullying, victimization, work environment Nyckelord: Begreppsanvändning, mobbning, kränkande särbehandling, arbetsmiljö

The internet has become an important social context in adolescence, and communicating online with friends has become a natural part of everyday life. The present cross-sectional study examined the effects of social cues and popularity on developing adolescent social cognitions in online settings using a sample of 90, 11- to 14-year-old students from British Columbia, Canada. Participants completed self-report cyber-bullying, cyber-victimization, and cyber-aggression motivation measures. Hostile intent attributions were obtained using an instrument containing 8 hypothetical vignettes, where potentially harmful messages were sent to the protagonist, but the sender’s intentions were ambiguous. The results show an increasing cyber-bullying and cyber-victimization trend from early- to mid- adolescence. There was some evidence to suggest that individuals in mid-adolescence were more sensitive to online social cues and popularity. Individuals in mid-adolescence were more likely to engage in cyber-aggressive behavior to obtain a material or social reward. Despite having a small sample size, this study provides a good foundation for further research examining developmental processes that underlie cyberbullying behavior. / Graduate

The purpose of this paper was to examine how the bullying discourse differs depending on if the person bullying is a student or an employee at the school. Cases from Skolinspektionen and Barn- och elevombudsmannen was analysed using Faircloughs three dimensional critical discourse analysis to be able to identify how the disocurse differs depending on who has been bullying. The analysis showed that the discourse do differ between when it is a student and when it is a employee at the school that bullies. The agency of the employees were hidden and their potentielly bully-like actions were rationalized while the agency of students that bully was clear. / Uppsatsen syfte var att undersöka hur mobbningsdiskursen skiljde sig åt beroende på om det var en elev eller en anställd på skolan som har utsatt en elev för kränkande behandling. Med hjälp av Faircloughs tredimensionella kritiska diskursanalys har ärenden inkomna till skolinspektionen analyserats för att kartlägga eventuella skillnader. Analysen visade att diskursen skiljer sig beroende på vem som var anklagad. Anställdas handlingar bortförklarades och förmildrades i huvudmannens yttranden samtidigt som agentskapet doldes medan elever framställdes som personligt ansvariga för de kränkningar som skett.

The aim of the thesis is to examine how everyday social interactions and relations in a school class in years 8-9 are experienced by pupils and teachers and how they can be understood and improved. The research design is an action research approach and is carried out as a case study involving four teachers and 24 pupils. Four issues are formulated and the teachers and the researcher together suggest how certain problems might be solved, which in turn directs the action process over the period of three school terms. Analytical concepts are used to map and understand pupils’ everyday social relations in terms of peer groups, positions and norms. Eriksson’s (2001) sociological theory on bullying is used to analyze and explain the complexity of a case of bullying. Defined dominating norms that appear to guide the pupils’ social interactions are: (1) You should make room for yourself, be visible and heard, (2) you should have many friends and (3) you should look down on those who study. The everyday social relations are affected by the pupils’ positioning and by the groupings that are formed in the class. Crystalized groups that emerge in the study are: (1) those who make a lot of noise and take up a lot of room, (2) those who study, (3) pupils who are frequently absent, (4) those who feel uncomfortable and (5) those who are outside (a marginalized group). In addition to these findings, three dominating norms among the teachers emerge. These norms guide and affect how the teachers act and think when victimized pupils and their situations are discussed. Teachers’ dominating norms seem to prevail in situations where some pupils are victimized by other pupils in the class. This in turn could contribute to various kinds of moral disengagement on the part of the teachers when dealing with victimizing acts among pupils. From the perspective of the victimized pupils, such a way of acting could be understood as teachers, in their role as “security guarantors”, are unable to prevent the powerlessness of victimized pupils.

This study examined associations between attachment styles, relational aggression and victimization, and sexual behavior in the context of romantic relationships during emerging adulthood. The sample included 306 college students attending an urban university in the southeastern United States. Multiple regression analyses indicated that individuals with dismissive and fearful attachment reported higher levels of relational aggression, and individuals with fearful and preoccupied attachment reported higher rates of relational victimization as compared to those with secure attachment. Neither relational aggression nor relational victimization accounted for a significant portion of the variance in sexual behaviors. However, significant three-way interactions were found that indicated dismissive and secure attachment style, as compared to other attachment styles, moderated associations between relational victimization and sexual behavior and that the strength of these relations differed by gender. These findings highlight the complexity of these interrelations and have important implications for prevention and intervention efforts.

Peer victimization is characterized by acts of physical, relational, and verbal aggression that can contribute to maladjustment. Youths’ responses to peer victimization are guided by social information-processing (SIP) skills that impact their adjustment. Maladjustment can contribute to biases in SIP. Biased processing occurs when youth rely on existing schemas without attending to cues from the immediate social context. These processing deficits contribute to the enactment of problematic responses that may lead to further maladjustment. However, not all youth exhibit SIP deficits. A recent study identified four adjustment clusters based on differences in aggression, anxiety, depression, social acceptance, and victimization within a predominantly African American sample of adolescents (Sullivan & Farrell, 2008). These clusters included aggressive-victims, passive-victims, neglected youth, and well-adjusted youth. Data suggest that cluster membership influences SIP and responses to peer victimization. This study used latent profile analysis (LPA) and the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) paradigm, a think-aloud approach to cognitive assessment, to examine differences in SIP between well-adjusted youth and subgroups of maladjusted youth in response to simulated peer victimization situations. Participants included a primarily African American sample of 523 sixth grade students who completed a series of self-report measures of adjustment. LPA identified a four-class solution that included: Aggressive-victims, Aggressors, Passive-victims, and Well-adjusted youth. This model closely approximated the clusters previously identified. However, the current solution includes a purely aggressive group whereas the prior solution contained a neglected group. A sub-sample of 176 students was then randomly selected to complete ATSS interviews. Logistic regression was used to examine SIP pattern differences across the groups. As hypothesized, aggressors and aggressive-victims were more likely to report intentions to engage in physical aggression compared to well-adjusted youth. In addition, aggressors were more likely to report beliefs that it is ok to fight in response to physical aggression compared to their well-adjusted peers. Further, well-adjusted youth were more likely to report intentions to behave nonviolently compared to their maladjusted peers. However, six of the ten hypotheses were not supported. Additional findings related to gender differences and situation-specific SIP patterns were identified. These findings have important implications for violence prevention interventions.