Speakers
Description
Bullying is a complex social-relationships problem that exists within layers of interpersonal, group, institutional, and societal contexts: negatively impacting individual and community wellbeing far beyond individual school settings. This symposium acknowledges bullying as a pluralistic research discipline by bringing together four theoretically and methodologically diverse papers from three commonwealth countries. Employing lenses such as: (missed) opportunities to exert power; normalizing harm; and exploring power (over, to, and with) this symposium challenges thinking about proactive strategies and approaches to address bullying which are often only positioned within multi-tiered systems of support within school settings.
Green considers the evolution of bystander behavior: through highlighting the power of ‘silent socialization’ by parents and teachers: who, in video-studies of reading stories to children, rarely mentioned strategies to help victims. Using codesign methodologies to investigate socio-emotional spaces in schools, Lohmeyer considers the connection between loneliness and bullying. Employing Bourdieu’s notions of habitus, doxa and symbolic violence, he interrogates the impact of undesirable social connections on loneliness in young people. Green et al. in their systematic review of Australian literature (2014-2023), and web analyses of 563 prevention programs/approaches, found that few were evidence-based, and none specifically addressed/targeted bullying/cyberbullying of the most powerless/vulnerable: those in marginalized/equity groups. Pepler and colleagues reflect on abuse of power at the systemic level, challenging thinking around what “power over” means in the context of colonisation of Indigenous peoples. They developed a “Community Journey to Wellness” model to support communities to heal and recover from the harms of colonial abuses of power.
Keywords
bullying, power, systemic, intentionality, marginalized
Additional field for symposia
Chair: Deborah M Green
Discussant: Barbara A. Spears
Individual Abstracts:
The development of the bystander: A socialization oversight?
Green, V.A.
Storybook reading with young children is a typical socialization practice that helps to promote prosocial behaviour including managing complex situations such as bullying. However, little is known about how storybooks are used by parents and teachers and whether they make suggestions about what the characters could do when they witness bullying. We conducted structured video-recorded observations of 97 parent-child dyads and 80 early childhood teachers in-situ with small groups of children. All participants were instructed to read an adapted book that included child and adult witnesses, and the repetition of inappropriate - but developmentally typical - preschool behaviour. We measured the number of comments made by the adults that referred to feelings, emotions, and mean behaviours. Seventy-two parents made 605 comments; while 79 teachers made 2,183 comments. Five parents made 9 comments about the bystanders and only 1 parent made any suggestions about what the bystander could do. There were 13 teachers who made comments about the bystanders; of these only two mentioned any strategies. The findings from these two studies provide the first suggestion that the beginnings of bystander behavior may evolve because of parents’ and teachers’ socialization practices. By remaining silent about helping victims of bullying young children may be socialized into passive behaviour when witnessing bullying. This type of ‘silent socialization’ suggests that more directive strategy-based prevention programmes that teach young children how to respond when witnessing bullying episodes, could be included within the early childhood social and emotional curriculum.
Loneliness and bullying in school: A co-designed investigation of socio-emotional space
Lohmeyer, B
Schools are one of the most significant spaces where young people create social connections, and international research has demonstrated a connection between bullying and loneliness in school. The World Health Organisation has identified loneliness as a global health priority and the prevalence of loneliness in young Australians mirror the prevalence of school bullying. Yet, loneliness research is predominantly focussed on older people and on the absence of desired social connections. Co-designed with the youth advocacy group the South Australian Youth Forum, this project investigated young people’s experiences of loneliness and socio-emotional space in schools. Employing Bourdieu’s symbolic power and violence to analyse data collected through peer-led rapid ethnography, interviews and focus groups, I explore the impact of undesirable social connections (i.e. bullies) on loneliness in young people in schools. I argue a focus on space and undesirable social connections provides new insights into the relationship between bullying and loneliness, and avenues for professionals (teachers, counsellors, youth and social workers) in schools to positively shape the socio-emotional space.
SCHOOL-BASED BULLYING AND CYBERBULLYING: UNDERSTANDING THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT
Green, D.M., Taddeo, C., Spears, B.A. & Tippett, N.
Bullying is a complex phenomenon that negatively impacts the wellbeing of school communities and stakeholders leading to economic and non-economic costs to society. Australian researchers have explored bullying in school settings since the 1990s, when Rigby and Slee’s early work set the scene for decades of investigations: seeking to understand its prevalence; risk and protective factors; and immediate and long-term outcomes associated with these negative behaviours.
To inform Australian policymakers, school leaders, practitioners and parents, the Australian Schools Anti-bullying Collective, the government’s national collaborative project, involving all education jurisdictions in Australia working together to address bullying, harassment and violence, commissioned a systematic literature review (2014-2023), web analysis and policy mapping.
Employing a parallel convergent mixed-methods approach provided a methodologically robust review of contemporary Australian academic and grey literature (2014- 2023) on student-to-student bullying/cyberbullying that occurs at/outside of school or online.
Findings highlighted that between 29.2% and 40% of young people reported being bullied frequently (i.e. every few weeks of more) and belonging to minority/equity groups (viz First Nations; Religious and Cultural; ethnic and linguistic; Gender Diverse/LGBTQI+; Neuro-diverse; youth with disabilities) presented most risk. While 563 programs, interventions and resources were identified few were evidence-based and none specifically addressed bullying/cyberbullying for those in minority/equity groups. Whilst much is known about what works to stop some bullying, for some people, less is known about how to support those in minority/equity groups. Implications for proactive strategies and prevention of bullying and cyberbullying for minority groups in an Australian context are considered.
Addressing the Harms of ‘Power Over’: A Consideration of the Effects of Colonialism on Indigenous Peoples
Pepler, D., Cardinal,S., Haigh, E. & Ricard, D.
Recently, a UNESCO working group defined school bullying as: “a damaging social process that is characterized by an imbalance of power driven by social (societal) and institutional norms. It is often repeated and manifests as unwanted interpersonal behaviour among students or school personnel that causes physical, social, and emotional harm to the targeted individuals or groups, and the wider school community (2024.p.4).” The abuse of power extends far beyond schools to include social systems, governments, and other institutions. The ability to normalize harm is funnelled through community, as much as society, where racial inequities permeate the status quo. In Canada, the ‘power over’ exerted by colonizers over 500 years has caused immense physical, social, and emotional harm to Indigenous Peoples. We have been working with Indigenous communities and the Canadian Red Cross to identify historical and ongoing harms of colonial ‘power over’. With knowledge shared by Indigenous communities, we have developed a ‘Community Journey to Wellness’ model and resources that support communities in identifying: 1. physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual traumas they have experienced; 2. the community’s vision of wellness, and 3. the critical cultural strengths, identified as Relational Determinants of Health, that communities can strengthen to recover from the harms of colonial abuses of power. With support from Canadian and Australian Indigenous colleagues, we are working to develop resources and programming for community-level trauma recovery. We believe this an essential proactive strategy to prevent ongoing systemic and lateral violence and promote wellbeing of Indigenous children, youth, families, and communities.
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Mixed method study |
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| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
