School bullying

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Vodcast Three Interventions in cases of bullying
School Bullying
Dr Ken RigbyConsultant
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Proactive and Reactive Approaches

• The proactive or universal approach targets
  everyone in the school community in an attempt to
  stop bullying ever happening
• The reactive or interventive approach targets
  those individuals or groups who are actually
  involved in bully/victim problems

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Why the proactive approach is never entirely
successful

• Some individuals are highly predisposed to act
  aggressively
• Negative or inadequate parenting and family
  influence leads some children to become involved
  in bully/victim problems at school
• Some neighbourhoods instil prejudiced attitudes
  and promote aggressive behaviour
• Exposure to violence through the media can induce
  some children to act aggressively

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Two stages of intervening by school staff

• 1. When a teacher observes a student or group of
  students bullying someone and decides to
  intervene on the spot
• 2. When it is decided that further action at a
  later stage needs to be taken to deal with the
  issue which has come to the schools attention

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What is a case of bullying?

• A student is being seriously harmed physically
  and/or psychologically by a more powerful person
  or group
• What is happening is unfair and is expected to
  continue unless it is stopped
• The target evidently does not appear to have the
  skills or resources to handle the situation
• It is decided that time and resources must be
  allocated to addressing what is happening.

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How successful are interventions with actual
cases of bullying?

• To answer this question approx 38,000 Australian
  students aged 8 to 16 years were asked
• Whether they had ever been bullied at school
• Whether they had told anyone
• Whether they had told a teacher
• After telling a teacher whether things improved,
  stayed the same or got worse (Rigby, 2008)

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What happens when teachers are told?

• According to students, in about 50 of cases
  reported by students to a teacher the situation
  does not improve
• In 10 of cases the situation gets worse
• Interventions are less successful with older
  students
• There is a great need for intervention in cases
  to be improved.

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Six major methods of intervening

• The Traditional Disciplinary Method
• Strengthening the Victim to Resist
• Mediation
• Restorative Practice
• The Support Group Method
• The Method of Shared Concern

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Traditional Disciplinary Method

• The Traditional Disciplinary Method is commonly
  seen as
• justified when
• A perpetrator is found to be responsible for the
  bullying
• He or she is deemed to deserve to be punished

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The rationale

• The imposition of the penalty and commonly the
  threat of further punishment will deter the
  perpetrator from continuing to bully
• The punishment will send a message to other
  students and deter them from bullying
• In general, students will not dare bully
• It should be recognised that there are some
  clearly undesirable ways of carrying out this
  method for instance when the penalties are
  arbitrary and seemingly vindictive

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How the Traditional Disciplinary Method can be
used more acceptably

• The sanctions are consistent with school rules
  governing behaviour - especially if the rules
  have been publicised and endorsed by the school
  community
• The sanctions are administered in such a way as
  to respect the person of the bully - and focus on
  the unacceptable behaviour
• Pains are subsequently taken to reinforce
  behaviour that is positive - and incompatible
  with a bullying style of behaving

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Limitations of the Traditional Disciplinary
Method

• At best it produces compliance and not a
  self-sustaining change of heart
• The bullying commonly does not stop - those
  punished often engage in less conspicuous but
  equally hurtful forms of bullying
• It is difficult - if not impossible - to provide
  the necessary surveillance to ensure the victims
  safety
• The positive reinforcement of the bullys
  supporters may be more powerful than any negative
  reinforcement the school can provide

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When the disciplinary approach appears more
justified

• The bullying is extreme or actually criminal and
  a disciplinary response is required
• There appears to be no alternative way of
  proceeding as for example when non-punitive
  methods have been ineffective.

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Questions to discuss and an exercise

• At your school do you think students who are
  being bullied usually approach staff members for
  help?
• When staff are told, how much help do you think
  they are to students?
• How would you handle a case of low to medium
  severity bullying, for example the one described
  in the Handling Bullying Questionnaire?
• Exercise
• Complete the Handling Bullying Questionnaire
• Compare your results with those obtained by most
  Australian respondents
• Where you differ from most of the Australian
  respondents, ask yourself why

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