Bullying Prevention in Schools

The Need for a Multiple Stakeholder Approach

Authors

  • Isaac Karikari
  • James R. Brown Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Gifty Dede Ashirifi Indiana University, Indianapolis
  • James Storms Research Assistant

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18060/22928

Keywords:

stakeholders, Bully prevention, interventions, schools

Abstract

Since bullying is an ecological and systemic phenomenon that occurs in multiple contexts with multiple actors, it makes sense to consider the perceptions of multiple stakeholders and their relationships with one another and in relation to bullying prevention in schools. Using a non-probability, purposive sample, this study examined the perspectives of 45 school stakeholders, namely, principals, school social workers, bus drivers, and parents from an urban school district in the Midwest. The study unveils some of the implicit and explicit challenges associated with bullying prevention efforts. For example, bullying can be quite nebulous because people tend to look at the issue through the prism of their own experiences and positions, limiting their understanding of other stakeholders. Some stakeholders’ perspectives may be muted when bullying behaviors are discussed or reported. Overall, the findings support the use of multi-stakeholder approaches in developing a more holistic view of bullying. Recommendations include avoiding the reification of the views and voices of a select few and having a more open system of dialogue among stakeholders to create inclusion when addressing bullying.

Author Biographies

Isaac Karikari

 Isaac Karikari is an assistant professor with the Department of Social Work, College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines, University of North Dakota. He has been involved in bullying research since 2014, and continues to explore value-added ways to contribute to the field. His research encompasses children, youth, and families, behavioral/mental health, and critical discourse analysis. 

James R. Brown, Indiana University, Bloomington

James is a former school social worker who has extended his practice work into further researcher the phenomenon of school bullying.  He is involved in using technology to assist youth, parents,and school officials to engage in addressing this form of aggression.  

James Storms, Research Assistant

James Storms was a graduate research assistant when earning his masters degree and is now a school coulselor a Intermediate School in Indianapolis.  

References

Aalsma, M. C., & Brown, J. R. (2008). What is bullying? Journal of Adolescent Health. 43, 101-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.06.001

Adelman, H., & Taylor, L. (2000). Moving prevention from the fringes into the fabric of school improvement. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 11(1), 7-36. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532768xjepc1101_03

Anderson-Butcher, D., Stetler, E. G., & Midle, T. (2006). A case for expanded school- community partnerships in support of positive youth development. Children & Schools, 28(3), 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/28.3.155

Beddoe, L. (2019). Managing identity in a host setting: School social workers’ strategies for better interprofessional work in New Zealand schools. Qualitative Social Work, 18(4), 566-582. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325017747961

Bell, K. J., & Willis, W. G. (2016). Teachers’ perceptions of bullying among youth. Journal of Educational Research, 109(2), 159-168.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.931833

Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bradshaw, C. P., Waasdorp, T. E., O'Brennan, L. M., & Gulemetova, M. (2013). Teachers’ and education support professionals’ perspectives on bullying and prevention: Findings from a national education association study. School Psychology Review, 42(3), 280-297.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723-742.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.22.6.723

Brown, J. R., Karikari, I., Abraham, S., & Akakpo, T. F. (2018). Left off the route: A qualitative examination of urban bus drivers wanting to be players in the bully prevention solution. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518787204

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Youth risk behavior survey - Data summary & trends report: 2007-2017.Aalsma, M. C., & Brown, J. R. (2008). What is bullying? Journal of Adolescent Health, 43(2), 101–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.06.001https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/trendsreport.pdf

Cornell, D., & Limber, S. P. (2015). Law and policy on the concept of bullying at school. American Psychologist, 70(4), 333-343. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038558

Dake, J. A., Price, J. H., & Telljohann, S. K. (2003). The nature and extent of bullying at school. Journal of School Health, 73(5), 173-180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2003.tb03599.x

Dane, B. O., & Simon, B. L. (1991). Resident guests: Social workers in host settings. Social Work, 36(3), 208-213. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/36.3.208

de Lara, E. W. (2008). Bullying and aggression on the school bus: School bus drivers' observations and suggestions. Journal of School Violence, 7(3), 48-70.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220801955554

Dixon-Woods, M., Agarwal, S., Jones, D., Young, B., & Sutton, A. (2005). Synthesizing qualitative and quantitative evidence: A review of possible methods. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 10(1), 45-53.

https://doi.org/10.1177/135581960501000110

Eden, S., Heiman, T., & Olenik‐Shemesh, D. (2013). Teachers’ perceptions, beliefs and concerns about cyberbullying. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(6), 1036-1052. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01363.x

Espelage, D. L., Polanin, J. R., & Low, S. K. (2014). Teacher and staff perceptions of school environment as predictors of student aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying situations. School Psychology Quarterly, 29(3), 287-305. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000072

Fekkes, M., Pijpers, F. I. M., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S. P. (2005). Bullying: Who does what, when and where? Involvement of children, teachers, and parents in bullying behavior. Health Education Research Theory & Practice, 20(1), 81-91.

https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyg100

Flygare, E., Gill, P. E., & Johansson, B. (2013). Lessons from a concurrent evaluation of eight antibullying programs used in Sweden. American Journal of Evaluation, 34(2), 170-189. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214012471886

Foody, M., Murphy, H., Downes, P., & O’Higgins Norman, J. (2018). Anti-bullying procedures for schools in Ireland: Principals’ responses and perceptions. Pastoral Care in Education, 36(2), 126-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2018.1453859

Fretwell, Q. (2015). Addressing bullying in schools: The perceptions, thoughts and beliefs of middle-school principals. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgia State University, GA.

Gentle-Genitty, C., Kim, J., Yi, E. H., Slater, D., Reynolds, B., & Bragg, N. (2017). Comprehensive assessment of youth violence in five Caribbean countries: Gender and age differences. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 27(7), 745-759. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2016.1273811

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.

Hayes, A. (2017). An examination of teachers’ perceptions of bullying in an urban elementary school. (Doctoral dissertation thesis). Baker University, KS.

Hong, J. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). A review of research on bullying and peer victimization in school: An ecological system analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(4), 311-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.03.003

Hymel, S., & Swearer, S. M. (2015). Four decades of research on school bullying: An introduction. The American Psychologist, 70(4), 293-299.

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038928

Kaminska, O., & Foulsham, T. (2013). Understanding sources of social desirability bias in different modes: Evidence from eye-tracking (No. 2013-04). ISER Working Paper Series.https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/91698/1/737967706.pdf

Kim, J. (2017). Building transformative school-community collaboration: A critical paradigm (Doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Lloyd, M. (2018). Domestic violence and education: Examining the impact of domestic violence on young children, children, and young people and the potential role of schools. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(2094), 1-11.

doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02094

McNamee, A., & Mercurio, M. (2008). School-wide intervention in the childhood bullying triangle. Childhood Education, 84(6), 370-378.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2008.10523045

Mehta, S. B., Cornell, D., Fan, X., & Gregory, A. (2013). Bullying climate and school engagement in ninth‐grade students. Journal of School Health, 83(1), 45-52.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2012.00746.x

Melik-Stepanyan, E. (2014). Policies and promising practices to combat bullying in secondary schools. University of Southern California (Dissertation). http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll3/id/385618/rec/1

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Preventing bullying through science, policy, and practice. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/23482

Newgent, R. A., Lounsbery, K. L., Keller, E. A., Baker, C. R., Cavell, T. A., & Boughfman, E. M. (2009). Differential perceptions of bullying in the schools: A comparison of student, parent, teacher, school counselor, and principal reports. Journal of School Counseling, 7(38), 1-33.http://www.jsc.montana.edu/articles/v7n38.pdf

Noblit G., & Hare, R. (1988). Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative studies. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Nyumba, T. O., Wilson, K., Derrick, C. J., & Mukherjee, N. (2018). The use of focus group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(1), 20-32.

https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12860

Oliveira, F. R., de Menezes, T. A., Irffi, G., & Oliveira, G. R. (2018). Bullying effect on student’s performance. EconomiA, 19(1), 57-73.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econ.2017.10.001

Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.10114

Olweus, D., & Limber, S. E. (2010). Bullying in school: Evaluation and dissemination of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 124-134. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01015.x

Padgett, D. K. (2008). Qualitative methods in social work research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Putnam, R. F., Handler, M. W., Ramirez‐Platt, C. M., & Luiselli, J. K. (2003). Improving student bus‐riding behavior through a whole‐school intervention. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(4), 583-590. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2003.36-583

Reed-Danahay, D. (2005). Locating Bourdieu. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Richard, J. F., Schneider, B. H., & Mallet, P. (2012). Revisiting the whole-school approach to bullying: Really looking at the whole school. School Psychology International, 33(3), 263-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034311415906

Robers, S., Zhang, A., Morgan, R.E., & Musu-Gillette, L. (2015). Indicators of school crime and safety: 2014 (NCES 2015-072/NCJ 248036). National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, and Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC.

https://doi.org/10.3886/icpsr23041

Ross, S. W., Lund, E. M., Sabey, C., & Charlton, C. (2017). Students’ perspectives on bullying. In L. H. Rosen, K. DeOrnellas, & S. R. Scott (Eds.), Bullying in school (pp. 23-47). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59298-9_2

Shimoni, B. (2017). What is resistance to change? A habitus-oriented approach. Academy of Management Perspectives, 31(4), 257-270.

https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2016.0073

Slovak, K., & Singer, J. B. (2011). School social workers’ perceptions of cyberbullying. Children & Schools, 33(1), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/33.1.5

Soliman, H. (2017). School social workers' perception of school climate: An ecological system perspective. International Journal of School Social Work, 2(1), 257-270.

https://doi.org/10.4148/2161-4148.1017

Vaillancourt, T., Brittain, H., Bennett, L., Arnocky, S., McDougall, P., Hymel, S., ... & Cunningham, L. (2010). Places to avoid: Population-based study of student reports of unsafe and high bullying areas at school. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25(1), 40-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573509358686

Whitley, J., Smith, J. D., & Vaillancourt, T. (2013). Promoting mental health literacy among educators: Critical in school-based prevention and intervention. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 28(1), 56-70.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573512468852

Downloads

Published

2020-07-30