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Bullying in schools
Strengths and weakness of the bystander classic study
Negative effect of bullying at school
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Recommended: Bullying in schools
Bullying is a serious occurrence that is plaguing youth all over the globe. Bullying, a form of aggression, can be experienced in four forms: physical, verbal, social or cyber (Oh & Hazler, 2009; Trach, Hymel, Waterhouse & Neale, 2010). However, all bullying is composed of three specific concepts—causing their victims harm, possessing greater power then their victims and repetition (Oh & Hazler, 2009). Read into the definition of “bullying” and one would simply identify a bully and a victim yet they would likely fail to identify a key influence: bystanders. It is their impact on bullying that can create serious problems therefore understanding the bystander’s role is vital in trying to decrease the occurrence of bullying (Oh & Hazler, 2009). Although the articles of Insoo Oh and Hazler (2009) and Jessica Trach, Shelley Hymel, Terry Waterhouse and Ken Neale (2010) take a particular focus on bystanders in bullying situations, the information from Robert Thornberg’s (2007) study of school children bystanders in emergency situations is also constructive in understanding concepts of bullying.
One generally noted concept in all of the articles was the taxonomy used for bystanders. The authors utilized the four categorizations of bystanders, established by a previous researcher, in order to study predictors and behaviours of their actions. Bystanders can be grouped as assistants, reinforcers, outsiders or defenders (Oh & Hazler, 2009; Thornberg, 2007; Trach, Hymel, Waterhouse & Neale, 2010). Those who actively support bullying by maintaining the victim for the bully are called assistants (Oh & Hazler, 2009). Less directly involved, are the supporters of bullies who provide positive feedback thus establishing their role as a reinforce...
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...the established concentration on predicting bystander behaviour. Therefore, the unexplored area of positive and active prosocial actions of bystanders becomes an area of knowledge very much worth pursuing.
References
Oh, I., & Hazler, R. J. (2009). Contributions of personal and situational factors to bystanders' reactions to school bullying. School Psychology International, 30(3), 291-310. doi:10.1177/0143034309106499
Thornberg, R. (2007). A classmate in distress: Schoolchildren as bystanders and their reasons for how they act. Social Psychology of Education, 10(1), 5-28. doi:10.1007/s11218-006-9009-4
Trach, J., Hymel, S., Waterhouse, T., & Neale, K. (2010). Bystander responses to school bullying: A cross-sectional investigation of grade and sex differences. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25(1), 114-130. doi:10.1177/0829573509357553
...though the researchers weren’t looking for it, he results represent ideas that can help the bystander effect in a situation. Smaller numbers increase the percentage of realization when it comes down to an emergency. The victim, if cohesive, actually plays a big role in causing the bystander effect as well. When a victim is unable to verbally communicate with bystanders, it lessens the chance of help. If a victim is capable of communicating, the help given could be more efficient. This is because it can help break the diffusion of responsibility. A victim looking a bystander directly in the eyes can even spark a quicker reaction in them. These are all ideas that psychologists still study today, and many even consider learning about this phenomenon a requirement.
Bullying has become a major problem facing the United States today. The American Psychological Association reports that roughly 40% to 80% of children are involved in bullying on some level during their time in school. (APA, 2014) The magnitude of the problem can be observed in the statistics. In the United States, a total of 4,080,879 children between the ages of five and 18 have been the victims of bullying compared to 3,892,199 who have reported that they have engaged in bullying someone else. Additionally, 851,755 said that they have been both the victim and the bully. That's a whopping 8,824,833 people in the United States that have been involved in bullying behavior on one level or another. (High, B., 2000 Census)
Kan-Rice, Pamela. “School Bullies Are Often Also Victims; Feeling Safe Reduces Youth Bullying” University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources News and Information Outreach. AScribe Health News Service. 2 Sept, 2003. Infotrac July 08, 2004. http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfm?story=502
Everyone has been bullied or encountered someone being bullied at some point of their life. Whether it would be physically or verbally both can be exceedingly traumatizing and can have a long-term psychological influence on children’s development. Majority people may define bullying in a more physical term; nevertheless that’s not always the case. The act of bullying can occur in several ways and in reality affect the individual in the same way. Bullying is generally defined as repeated, negative, and harmful actions focused at target throughout a course of time, exhibiting a sense of power difference between the bully and the victim (Olweus, 1993; Limber & Mihalic, 1999 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). A survey was conducted in the United States estimating that over six million children, about 30% in grade six through ten have experienced frequent bullying in a school environment (Nansel, 2001 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). Many people might debate that bullying is something that every child goes through and is simply a part of growing up, although there are several damaging consequences that happens to the child’s brain. Bullying causes the child to feel upset, isolated, frightened, anxious, and depressed. They feel like they reason they are being picked on is because there is something wrong with them and may even lose their confidence feel unsafe going to school (Frenette, 2013 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005) Anthropologically, sociologically, or psychologically, bullying can be analyzed through different perspectives and several questions can be asked based on the topic:
In a CNN study by Chuck Hadad he states “That bullying is pervasive even though the schools have anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through 12th grade, assemblies throughout the year, and a peer-to-peer program where older students talk to younger students about the dangers of bullying” (Hadad). Robert Faris, a sociologist found that bullies and victims are generally the same person. Whe...
Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and exercising power over another human being are increasingly important in developing one’s social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as an “aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power. Most often, it is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is an especially delicate matter that has only really been in the public eye for the past half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists pointed out its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. It has since been widely investigated and numerous programs have been developed in an effort to address and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such an abusive behaviour are various and can greatly differ from individual to individual. However, there are three main consequences that can be associated with school bullying, which are: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicidal attempts.
Neimen, Samantha, Brandon Robers, and Simon Robers. “Bullying: A State of Affairs.” Journal of Law & Education (n.d.):n. pag. Print.
Bullying has been around for decades and yet it is still a reoccurring problem, and it is only getting worse. The National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2009, said nearly 1 in 3 students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied in school. Eight years earlier, only 14 percent of that population said they had experienced bullying(Ollove,2014). There are two types of bullying the direct form and indirect form, in the direct form the victim receives physical harm example kicking pushing shoving. In the indirect form the victim receives emotional or mental harm by name-calling, rejection, gossip, threats, or insults(Green,2007). It doesn’t matter which way the victim was bullied it still causes
Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agencies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices.
behaviour in bullying situations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28(3), 246-258. Retrieved from Education Research Complete.
Victims of bullying will eventually show the effects of bullying by being passive or secluding themselves from other individuals. The background or culture of a victim will most likely determine how they progress or react in a bullying experience. A victim may retaliate to the bully's attacks depending on the level of aggressiveness used. Parenting affects the decisions made by both victims and bullies in the peer interactions. Intervention approaches to this social vice will include changing the victims’ opinions about themselves through encouragement and teaching them how to effectively respond to attackers...
Many factors in a child’s life may lead him or her to have such emotional distress that they begin bullying other students at school. Social factors are usually the easiest aspect to identify that would cause a child to bully their classmates. The child may have been bullied them self, which leads to pent up aggression which leads to the release of this aggression on other students. It may also be simp...
Scarpaci, R. (2006). Bullying: Effective strategies for its prevention. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 42(4), 170-174. Retrieved April 8, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=21102965&site=ehost-live
Bullying is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places
Bullying can also be considered as a major problem in the teenager bracket. This can occur in any social environment not just schools as mostly portrayed. Bullyi...