School bullying research has often focused on children, but neglected the parent's perspective. Little is known about how parents respond to their child's peer victimisation and how these responses are related to children's experiences. Thus, this thesis aimed to address three main research questions: (a) how do parents respond to their children's peer victimisation? (b) What factors are associated with parents' responses to their children's peer victimisation? (c) How are parents' responses related to children's experiences of peer victimisation? A mixed-methods sequential exploratory design, comprising of three stages, was utilised. Firstly, focus groups and interviews were conducted with parents to gain greater understanding of their perspective. The focus group/interview findings informed the content of parent and child questionnaires which were developed in a series of pilot studies, during stage two of the research. In the third stage, these questionnaires were administered to parents and children (aged I 1-12 years) to examine parental responses to peer victimisation, factors related to parental responses, and children's victimisation experiences. The findings suggested three categories of parental responses: supportive/problem solving, confrontational and avoidant. Parents' responses were related to their perceptions of how their child would cope, and their attitudes towards how schools/teachers deal with bullying. Additionally, parents' perceptions of their role in school bullying were influenced by what they thought a 'good' parent should do. Children's perceptions of avoidant and parental supportive/problem solving responses moderated the relationship between peer victimisation and loneliness; there was also an indirect relationship between perceived parental responses and peer victimisation, through child coping. This thesis concludes that in school bullying situations, parents form one element of a broader system, which also involves children and teachers. Thus, parentteacher communication and collaboration is vital and the importance of empowering parents to take a supportive/problem solving approach when helping their child is highlighted.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:602976 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Hale, Rebecca Louise |
| Publisher | Keele University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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