“Wie Du mir, so ich Dir”: Prävalenz und Stabilität von Aggression und Bullying in Grundschulklassen

Mechthild Schäfer, Astrid Albrecht

Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht, 2004

German

English

Bullying

Research

Researchers.

1 - 20 pages

The study "“Wie Du mir, so ich Dir”: Prävalenz und Stabilität von Aggression und Bullying in Grundschulklassen“ by Mechthild Schäfer and Astrid Albrecht deals with the phenomenon of "bullying ", a type of harassment widely used among pupils, which was rarely examined in Primary schools so far. To determine the role of bullying in Primary school, this survey was implemented on a sample of third-and fourth-graders about the prevalence and stability of bullying. A total of 479 students (267 boys, 212 girls) of the third and fourth grade at five Primary schools in Munich were asked about bullying and in how far they already experienced bullying or active harassment themselves. This questioning was repeated three month later with 288 students (153 boys, 135 girls). It has been found that the vast majority of Primary school children have already been victims of harassment by fellow students and many also reported that they themselves bullied other students. But the results showed that only those students bullied others who also suffered from harassment themselves. The proportion of offenders identified by this study is above the usually reported figures, while the proportion of victims is comparable to those from other European countries. The victims and perpetrators of the first time of measurement are rarely identical to those of the second measurement. Only those students who have been classified as victims and offenders (offender / victim), have an increased risk to take the same role again after three months. The findings about bullying in Primary school need to be reflected in comparison to bullying at later times in school life. The results also suggest that the "tit for tat"-strategy (that is, children treat others as they themselves have experienced it, negative actions are answered in the same way) in Primary classes can be considered as a valid principle. It explains the unstable roles of victim and perpetrator and shows that aggression is usually associated with counter-aggression.

We chose this study by Mechthild Schäfer and Astrid Albrecht because it focuses not only on bullying as a phenomenon in schools in general but also concentrates on the spread of this problem in Primary schools. The study shows that children are already confronted with bullying and other forms of harassment very early in life. The study was very large-scaled with over 700 children from different Primary schools being involved. The outcomes of this study are quite interesting, showing that especially the tit-for-tat-strategy can be considered as a valid principle in Primary schools, that means children only bully others when they themselves experience bullying and harassment from others.

Zepf