Speaker
Description
Bullying and victimization are global phenomena that occur in different contexts, even in catechetical gatherings of Greek Orthodox Church. There, children and adolescents from different backgrounds come together once a week to learn the values of the Orthodox faith. Even there, phenomena of bullying and victimization are evident. The present study implemented the socioemotional lessons of ViSC anti-bullying program, which have been enriched with texts from New Testament that highlight forgiveness and empathy. The goals are: (a) to examine if the phenomena of aggression, bullying and victimization could be reduced and (b) if social skills are enhanced in the catechetical school that implement the program.
The sample is consisted of 45 catechetical students between 11 and 17 years old (M=12.28, SD=1.86), 27 girls (60%). The participants were divided into two groups, where 25 catechetical students took part in the ViSC preventive program, while the remaining 20 students took part in the control group (no intervention). Self-report questionnaires were used for data collection, which were completed before and after the intervention by both groups.
The results showed that the students who received the spiritually enriched ViSC lessons, significantly reduced bullying, aggression and victimization behaviours and significantly increase their social skills in comparison with the students from the control group.
The enriching of anti-bullying program with spiritual values open new pathways within the ecclesiastical community and within other psycho-educational programs.
Keywords
bullying, victimization, aggression, empathy, social competence, spiritual texts
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
