Evaluation of a Program Designed to Reduce Relational Aggression in Middle School Girls

Abstract

Physical and verbal aggression is an increasing problem inboth middle and high schools across the United States. While physical forms of aggression are targeted in traditional “bullying” programs, relational aggression (RA), or the use of relationships to hurt another, is often not detected or addressed. For girls in the stage of identity formation, RA can impact negatively on self-concept, peer relationships, school performance, and mental and physical health. An innovative program designed specifically to help middle school girls confront and cope with issues related to RA was developed, implemented, and evaluated in two school systems. Attitudes and self-reported behaviors were measured before and after the program. Results show an improvement in relationship skills after participation in the program. Most noticeable improvements were in a girl's stated willingness to become involved when witnessing another girl being hurt and girls benefiting from the mentoring they received from high school juniors and seniors.     

Examining the Mediating Effect of Self-Efficacy on Approval of Aggression and Proactive Aggression

Proactive aggression (PA) is goal-directed, hostile social behavior that has been linked to detrimental outcomes. It has been theorized that adolescents who believe aggression is a normal and acceptable social response (approval of aggression) are more likely to show PA. Confidence in one’s ability to behave aggressively (self-efficacy about aggression) is understood to mediate this relationship. A mixed-gender sample of 860 Australian, 12–14 year old adolescents was used to investigate gender differences and the mediating effect of self-efficacy for aggression on the relationship between approval of aggression and PA. As hypothesized, approval of aggression, self-efficacy, and PA demonstrated significant positive relationships, with males also scoring significantly higher on these three variables than females. Furthermore, self-efficacy was found to significantly and partially mediate the relationship between approval of aggression and proactive aggression for both genders. Implications for the understanding and prevention of aggressive behavior in adolescents are discussed.     

Adolescents’ Experiences of Victimization: The Role of Attribution Style and Generalized Trust

Positive attribution style, negative attribution style, and generalized peer trust beliefs were examined as mediators in the relationship between adolescents’ peer victimization experiences and psychosocial and school adjustment. A total of 280 (150 female and 130 males, M_age = 13 years 4 months, SD_age = 1 year 1 month) adolescents completed measures of peer victimization, global self-worth, depressive symptoms, social confidence, school liking, loneliness, attribution styles, and generalized trust beliefs. Multigroup path analysis revealed that: (a) negative attribution style mediated the relationship between cyber victimization and school liking and depressive symptoms for males and females; (b) positive attribution style mediated the relationship between cyber victimization, school liking, global self-worth, and depressive symptoms for females; and (c) generalized peer trust beliefs mediated the relationship between social victimization, depressive symptoms, social confidence, and loneliness for females. Consequently, attribution style and generalized trust beliefs differentially influence the relationship between peer victimization and adjustment.     

Students Behaving Badly

Abstract

Students experience many forms of victimization at school, yet few studies address more than one form of victimization. In this study, we explored the incidence of multiple forms of peer victimization, including direct verbal and physical, relational, and sexual harassment victimization among urban middle school students. We examined the overlap and gender differences among victimization experiences. Further, social cognitive theory was used to better understand how victimization experiences influence beliefs about the acceptability of aggression. Youth in 6th through 8th grades (N=111) completed self-report measures assessing peer victimization experiences and normative beliefs about aggression. Results revealed overlap between victimization experiences, suggesting that students commonly experience multiple forms of victimization by peers. Males who were sexually harassed held the strongest beliefs supporting aggression in situations without provocation. Our findings suggest that direct physical/verbal, relational, and sexual harassment victimization are inter-related experiences among youth, and these experiences differ by sex.     

Entry into Middle School

Summary

The transition to middle school has not been a frequent topic of empirical research. This article presents six guidcposts for conceptualizing this transition. These guideposts focus upon the transaction between attributes of students and multiple levels of their ecological environment. How these operate to influence students' adaptation to middle school is discussed and data which focus on the child portion of this transaction are presented. Predictive relationships between measures of pre-transition adjustment and adaptation following middle school entry are examined, with a special focus on social-cognitive problem solving skills. Other indices included self-concept, peer relations, academic performance, school behavior, and students' self-reported ability to cope with typical Stressors of middle school. Significant findings, as well as implications for research and intervention, are discussed in terms of an ecological model.     

Bullying and Difference

Abstract

Why are students who have special educational needs at greater risk of bullying than their peers when educated in mainstream settings? This case study of one mainstream secondary school describes the various facets of the peer group dynamics that underpinned social aggression and exclusion towards students who were hearing impaired. These students were subject to the same social pressures as their mainstream peers but in addition were at risk of stigmatisation. As a result of their deafness they were treated as second class citizens (discredited). This in turn could lead to denigration and actual bullying, as well as social exclusion/marginalisation.     

Developing and Validating a New Classroom Climate Observation Assessment Tool

The climate of school classrooms, shaped by a combination of teacher practices and peer processes, is an important determinant for children's psychosocial functioning and is a primary factor affecting bullying and victimization. Given that there are relatively few theoretically-grounded and validated assessment tools designed to measure the social climate of classrooms, our research team developed an observation tool through participatory action research (PAR). This article details how the assessment tool was designed and preliminarily validated in 18 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms in a large urban public school district. The goals of this study are to illustrate the feasibility of a PAR paradigm in measurement development, ascertain the psychometric properties of the assessment tool, and determine associations with different indices of classroom levels of relational and physical aggression.     

Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: A General Strain Theory Perspective

Cyber bullying has become more pervasive as a result of advances in communication technology such as email, text messaging, chat rooms, and social media sites. Despite the growth in research on correlates associated with engagement in cyber bullying, few studies test the applicability of criminological theories to explain engagement in cyber bullying. This study applies data from the 2009/2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study to examine whether individual and social factors associated with general strain theory explain why children engage in cyber bullying. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify significant factors associated with engagement in cyber bullying. The multivariate logistic regression results show that students who experienced strain engage in cyber bullying. The regression analysis also shows a positive relationship between participation in traditional bullying and engagement in cyber bullying.     

历史上石门坎苗族教育反思

威宁彝族回族苗族自治县,地处贵州省西北部.境内苗族人口约有5000余人,石门坎是苗族的主要聚居地之一.本世纪初,威宁石门坎苗族教育“实系首屈一指”,成为“西南苗族最高文化区”,威宁石门坎因此而被国外基督教报纸誉为“海外天国”.很明显,当时教会在此创办学校、兴办教育,主观上带有明显的文化侵略、同化动机,但在客观事实上却发展了这一地区的苗族教育,并使之成为苗族教育史上的一大奇迹.反思总结这个时期石门坎苗族教育,对我们今天发展苗族教育及其他少数民族教育,具有其正反方面的意义.一、石门坎苗族教育的历史概述石门坎属于威宁彝族回族苗族自治县第七区,地处贵州和云南两省交界处.距威宁县城120公里,离云南昭通仅37公里.上世纪末,“这里居住着300余户人家,95%以上系苗族的一     

The interplay between bystanders’ intervention styles: An examination of the “bullying circle” approach

This study explores correlations between bystanders’ intervention styles by means of the bullying circle model. Three aims were examined in this study. First, we reevaluated the number and type of bystander intervention styles in aggressive school incidents. Second, we examined the association between reports of relational aggression and victimization and bystander intervention styles. Third, we estimated relationships between the different bystander intervention styles, by examining two directional paths. Participants were 1,518 adolescents (61.9% boys, 38.1% girls) from 15 Israeli religious and secular middle and high schools. The data analysis indicated two new intervention styles: help-seeker and passive bystander. Two structural models, illustrating the path leading to and from provictim and antivictim bystander intervention styles are presented. The distinction between the “participant-role approach” and the bullying circle is discussed in order to address the theoretical difference between social categorization of fixed bystander roles as opposed to rating bystander intervention styles on a continuum.     

Identification of Bullies and Victims

SUMMARY

Bullying studies frequently rely on student self-report to identify bullies and victims of bullying, but research in the broader field of peer aggression makes greater use of other informants, especially peers, to identify aggressors and victims. This study compared self, peer, and teacher identification of bullies and bully victims in a sample of 416 middle school students. Overall, there was poor correspondence between self-reports and reports made by peers or teachers, but consistently better agreement between peers and teachers, in identifying both bullies and victims of bullying. Peer and teacher identification of bullies were more consistently associated with subsequent school disciplinary infractions than were self-reports. These results raise concern about reliance on student self-reports of bullying and bully victimization.     

A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Schoolwide Violence Prevention Programs

Violence prevention programs are commonplace in today’s schools, though reviews of the literature reveal mixed empirical findings on their effectiveness. Often, these programs include a variety of components such as social skills training, student mentoring, and activities designed to build a sense of school community that have not been tested for individual effectiveness. To fill this gap, we wanted to determine the relationships between specific violence prevention program components and aggression and violence outcomes. Using the U.S. Department of Education’s School Survey on Crime and Safety, we estimated the effects of components of violence prevention programs through analyses with proportional odds logistic regression and Poisson regression models. We found significant relationships between three violence prevention program components (individual attention, mentoring, tutoring, and/or coaching; recreational, enrichment, or leisure activities; and involving students in resolving student conduct problems) and aggression and violence outcomes.     

Student Willingness to Seek Help for Threats of Violence in Middle School

Abstract

This study examined factors that influence a student's willingness to seek help for a threat of violence. The sample consisted of 542 middle school students who completed an anonymous survey that asked students how likely they would be to seek help in response to being bullied or threatened. The survey also included measures of type of bullying, attitudes toward aggressive behavior, and perceptions of teacher tolerance for bullying. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that willingness to seek help is lower in higher grade levels and among males. Students who hold aggressive attitudes and perceive the school climate to be tolerant of bullying were less likely to report a willingness to seek help. Implications for improving student willingness to seek help are discussed.     

Risk and Protective Factors for Peer Victimization in Adolescents with ADHD

ABSTRACT

Youth with ADHD are more at-risk for peer victimization than their typically developing peers, and may not be benefiting from current interventions. Thus, we sought to examine risk (i.e., anxiety, depression, and forms of aggression) and protective (i.e., social skills and social acceptance) factors for peer victimization in this group. Participants were 123 young adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, who were attending grades six through eight. We found that relational aggression (i.e., excluding others from activities) and anxiety symptoms were among the strongest risk factors for victimization. Anxiety symptoms were associated with victimization over and above depressive symptoms. Social acceptance buffered risk conferred by the risk factors. Future work is needed to investigate the degree to which the relations among internalizing symptoms and victimization differ in youth with ADHD relative to typically developing youth, and assess causality of the relations.     

Warning Signs of Problems in Schools

SUMMARY

One need not look hard to find evidence of concern related to the nature of student behavior in our schools. School violence, aggression, bullying, and harassment (e.g., racial or sexual) are often cited as challenging behaviors confronting educators and community leaders. Unfortunately, most schools address these concerns with aversive consequences delivered to individual perpetrators in a hope of reducing the future probability of undesired behavior. A growing body of literature identifies the need to explore the social context of behavior. The community, school, classroom, family, and peer group interact with student characteristics to help prevent, support the development of, and even exacerbate the display of both desired and undesired behavior. This article applies the logic of warning signs and functional behavioral assessment to schools as it explores the social context of the school and the classroom. The school-wide and classroom-based factors that have been associated with or found to support problem behaviors are discussed. Information is provided that will allow educators to assess their own schools and classrooms in an effort to promote a climate that will aid in the prevention of violence and aggression.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Bullying: A Focus Group Approach

The current qualitative study used a focus group approach to examine teachers’ perceptions of student aggressors and victims. Participants in the current study included 35 teachers from public elementary, middle, and high schools. Teachers’ responses to five questions about risk factors for aggression and victimization, adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies, and advice for victimized youth were analyzed using thematic analysis. Teachers frequently identified family factors as a risk factor for becoming an aggressor. Appearance-based factors, shyness, and emotional reactivity were commonly mentioned as risk factors for victimization. Teachers believed that strong displays of emotions, physical retaliation, and ignoring the situation were ineffective means for victims to respond to peer aggression. Reporting the aggression to an adult, appropriately standing up for oneself, and seeking support from friends were viewed as more effective strategies for responding to peer victimization. Directions for future research and implications for intervention are discussed.     

School Violence: The Role of Parental and Community Involvement

This study utilizes the School Survey on Crime and Safety to identify variables that predict lower levels of violence from four domains: school security, school climate, parental involvement, and community involvement. Negative binomial regression was performed and the findings indicate that statistically significant results come from all four domains. When modifying the sample to include only schools that offer some form of parental involvement opportunities, schools with greater parental volunteering and participation in subject area events experience reduced levels of violence. Implications from this analysis include developing creative methods for greater parental input in school activities.     

渎职侵权犯罪的社会因素分析

渎职侵权犯罪具有极为严重的危害,它直接侵害了国家、集体、公民个人的财产和安全,严重影响社会稳定。在源头上预防和减少渎职侵权犯罪,就显得极为重要。分析渎职侵权犯罪形成的社会因素,进而更好地打击渎职侵权犯罪,建立大预防格局具有深远的现实意义和指导意义。本文就渎职侵权犯罪的社会成因及其预防对策方面作了有益的探索。     

Executive functioning and bullying participant roles: Differences for boys and girls

Bullying is a process of direct (i.e., youth who bully and are victimized) and indirect (i.e., bystanders) social exchanges. Though researchers often examine social and emotional correlates of bullying role behaviors, it is important to also consider the underlying cognitive processes associated with different bullying roles such as socially oriented cognitive processes associated with executive functions. The goal of the current study was to examine executive functions associated with types of bullying role behavior (aggression, victimization, defending, assisting, and outsider behavior) and differences between boys and girls within a sample of 689 third- to eighth-grade students (51% male, 49% female). Victimization was significantly and negatively associated with each executive function. Defending was positively associated with emotion regulation for upper elementary school students, but not for middle school students. Outsider behavior was significantly and negatively associated with self-monitoring, flexibility, and initiation.     

What Have We Learned from Columbine

Abstract

This study first examined a model of the predictors and mediators of both suicidal ideation and violent ideation, particularly since both types of ideation were highly correlated (r = .55) among our young adolescent participants. The variables in the model were those identified in media accounts of the histories of the 10 high-profile school shooting cases, and that have also been included in our earlier model of the predictors of suicidal ideation, which we expanded to include violent ideation. Perceptions of competence or adequacy and social support from peers and parents predicted two mediators in the model, an adjustment/depression composite (self-esteem, hope to hopelessness, and affect, along a continuum from cheerful to depressed) and anger-induced physical aggression. These variables, in turn, predicted both suicidal and violent ideation. Secondly, we examined adolescents' reactions to vignettes that described harassing events, at the hands of peers and teachers simulating the type of audience-observed ridicule experienced by the school shooters. We were particularly interested in the emotional reaction of humiliation, an effect that has received surprisingly little attention in the emotion literature. Humiliation was related to other emotions such as anger and depression, consistent with the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms demonstrated in the overall model. Next we compared those who reported that they would respond violently to the events in vignettes compared to those reporting nonviolent reactions. Examining the variables in the general model, those who reported violent ideation reported markedly lower perceptions of adequacy, lower levels of social support, lower self-esteem, greater hopelessness, depressed affect, and anger-induced aggression. The violent ideators also reported higher levels of both homicidal and suicidal ideation. Discussion focused on the fact that thoughts of violence toward others as well as toward the self have similar psychosocial origins that should be considered in prevention and intervention efforts.