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TITLE OF DOCUMENT:

The “bullying” phenomenon in school and the exercise of physical and psychological violence by peers.

NAME OF AUTHOR(S):

Andreou E., Smith P. K.

NAME OF PUBLISHER:

Παιδαγωγική Επιθεώρηση 34, 9-25. (2002)

LANGUAGE OF DOCUMENT:

Greek

LANGUAGE OF THE REVIEW:

English

KEYWORDS:

Bullying, victimization, students, attitude, evolution

DOCUMENT TYPOLOGY:

Report

TARGET GROUP OF PUBLICATION:

Policy Makers, Teachers, Researchers.

SIZE OF THE PUBLICATION:

1 - 20 pages

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS:

In the present paper, there are some considerations presented on the definition and assessment of bullying, the age and sex differences and the distinctive characteristics of bullies, victims and bully/victims, as well as the role of the social environment.

Regarding the definition of “bullying”, some problems emerge from the fact that it is hardly possible to define the exact meaning of this word, neither in Greek, nor in some other languages. As a result, the research findings that come from different cultural frameworks are doubtfully comparable.


As far as the factor “age” is concerned, the findings emerging from international studies are quite contradictory, because there is a different realization of the term “bullying” among different ages. On the other hand, the findings concerning the sex of the students reveal that boys get mostly involved in physical forms of bullying and threats, though girls usually face verbal and indirect forms of harassment.

The profile of the bullies usually includes physical strength, dislike for school and low ego. On the other hand, the “victims” are described as more sensitive, physically weaker, insecure and show lack of social prowess. According to the international bibliography, there is a third group of students, named bullies/victims, and play both roles. They usually seem to have low social acceptance, they lack manners of solving problems and show high rates of machiavellism. It is commonly ascertained that these children, who play both roles of victimization, are often rejected from the school environment.

Another important factor in the field of bullying is the active and secret role of the social framework, an element that needs more empirical investigation. It has been figured that the schoolmates participate in many forms in the victimization of their peer(s).

Finally, the need of establishing adequate strategies is underlined, in order to eliminate the problem, through the sensitization about the phenomenon of bullying, the participation of parents and teachers, the enforcement of adequate rules and the support and protection of the victims.

REVIEWER’S COMMENTS ON THE DOCUMENT:

In the context of the European project on Nature and Prevention of Bullying, this paper reviews recent findings on bullying at school, with the aim of enhancing awareness of the issue and fostering interventions on both national and European basis. It constitutes a comprehensive and detailed report on the existing researches, and offers to the reader the adequate background in order to concern with the subject.
The structure followed proves the paper really legible, since the issues disserted have been set separately in a very helpful way. Another advantage is the comparative analysis followed across the findings of international studies, as well as the analytical explanation accompanying them, and their approach through a general theoretical framework.
Except for the definition of bullying, there are some basic issues discussed, such as age and sex differences and the distinctive characteristics of bullies, victims and bully/victims.
Furthermore the power of the school environment that tolerates or facilitates victimization is discussed and the basic principles and effects of school based intervention programmes are described. It is underlined that the incidents of violence in school subvert the procedure of learning and obtaining social skills, in a way that creates victims of bullying. So, besides the difficulties occurring, it is essential to act towards the elimination of the problem.

It is concluded that, since, bullying in schools is widespread and the consequences can be severe and long-lasting, intervention strategies targeting towards a broader social context should be developed. Moreover, given the knowledge that with a suitable intervention programme it is definitely possible to reduce dramatically bully/victim problems in school, we have a moral obligation to act on it.

NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION:

ASPETE

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