Analysis of Bullying in Schools - Literature review Example

BULLYING IN SCHOOLS Introduction Significance The reason that I choose the topic is that my son aged 12 years is suffering from Aspergers Syndrome amongst other disabilities that have been bullied within the education system. This is the disturbing aspect in spite of the fact that the education system is composed of the most literate people. I am passionate about advocating for bullied children, including my own child. My son can be referred to as the "little professor" as he has the ability to hack passwords on a computer, he is very academic and incredibly smart beyond his years, and with a photographic memory that can recall an exact snake from a picture he has seen in a book some years ago. He is like most of the children diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome including that he has poor social skills to get him away from bullies (Asperger, 1991, pp.37-92). Rationale and aims of the study Bullying has been in existence for decades, and some countries like Australia and England have had bullying problems for centuries. It is only since the 1980s, when "three middle school boys" from Norway "committed suicide" (Green, 2007, para.2) as a consequence of repeated bullying. Because of this reason, attention has been placed on the issues of bullying. There has been a great increase in the younger children committing suicide because of bullying which makes these younger people to go on violent rampages, it is hardly surprising that public concern with student safety has also led to an increased awareness of the consequences of bullying. Research questions Recent research has focused on both bullies and victims in a number of terms but this literature review will focus on research in relation to gender and age, and the accountings for victims and bullies. The research will be focusing on the gender as factor of bullying seeing is there is any difference in the way the girls or the boys are involved in bullying. Age as a factor will be considered and the psychological angles of bullying will be covered. Literature review In the research literature there have been a number of definitions provided for bullying, and as (Attwood, 2004, para. 1), claimed "one person's example of bullying can be another person's idea of entertainment." Olweus claimed there were two sorts of bullying - direct, wherein the victim is subjected to physical abuse, and indirect, wherein the victim suffers psychological or emotional mistreatment (as cited in Green, 2007, para.1) Gray has defined bullying as repeated damaging actions that were perhaps linked with negative intent (as cited in Attwood, 2004, What is bullying section, para.1). Gender Issues Seals and Young, (2003) carried out a study on the occurrence and relationship of bullying to gender, age, ethnicity, self esteem and depression, experienced by seventh and eighth grade students in the northern delta region of the US. The study has shown that there were considerably more male than female bullies, with "twice as many males identified as females identified as bullies" (Discussion section, para.2). Delfabbro et al. (2006) carried out a study on bullying by peers and teachers in secondary schools in South Australia. The results have truly reflected the fact that the boys are "more likely to be the perpetrators of bullying" (Delfabbro et al. 2006, p.72). The violent nature in bullying boys has been noticed and it has been found that boys are likely to be more violent and they can cause injury, therefore bullying by more overt physical means (Benbenishty & Astor, 2005, p.13). Girls, on the other hand, tend to be more covert and devious, utilizing such means as spiteful rumor mongering and telling tales or gossiping (Geffner et al., 2002, p.27). Delfabbro et al. (2006) stated that "girls are significantly more likely to use non-physical aggression" (Delfabbro et al. 2006, p.72) It has been noticed that the same gender children bully the same gender children as boys are bullied by boys and girls are bullied by girls (Hilarski et al, 2004). It has been found in some cases that although this was the case with boys bullying alone, "more females than males were involved in mixed gender group bullying." (Seals and Young, 2003, Discussion section, para.3). As already mentioned and as the research shows that a greater number of boys are involved in bullying than girls that bully, however the evidence is contradictory when it comes to noticing whether boys are more prevalent as victims. Some researchers claim to support this very fact. There has been a survey conducted by Barone (1993) surveying 847 of grade eight students in New York, and the results found that 47% of the boys and 53% of the girls had been suffering from bullying (Green, 2007, para.9). Delfabbro et al. (2006) say that it is also "consistently found that boys are much more likely to be bullied than girls" (Delfabbro et al., 2006, p.72). Others, such as Olweus, have proposed that the occurrence of bullying is the same for males and females (Hilarski et al., 2004). As girls are not violent in bullying however there is evidence that girls experience more verbal bullying and boys more physical (Stanley & Aurora, cited in Osler & Vincent, 2003, p.94). The survey conducted by Barone (1993) found that 89.3% of boys had experienced physical abuse, and 67.1% of girls had experienced verbal bullying (Green, 2007, para.9). It is interesting to note that Hilarski et al. (2004) has claimed that covert type of bullying that "females are proposed to experience more than males is described as much more destructive that physical bullying" (Hilarski et al., 2004, p. 20). There has been another study carried out by Hilarski et al. (2004) on the regularity and nature of bullying suffered by girls and boys in elementary and middle schools located in a rural area of southeastern US. The study shows that the girls were constantly threatened by physical abuse unlike their male peers, which contradicts previous findings. A study was carried out on bullying young children diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome by Attwood (2004) and the study claimed that the occurrence and strength of bullying is most prevalent with children "between the ages of eight and 14 years," (Attwood, 2004, para. 6) but that bully-victim relationships begin to appear in children as young as four or five. Seals and Young (2003) have found out that bullying has been seen to be more widespread among the seventh grade students as compared to the eighth graders have found it. Other researchers like Olweus, found that more children in grades two to six became victims of bullying than in grades seven to nine (Hilarski et al. 2004). Earlier research also indicated that bullying remains steady through childhood and the teens but changes do occur with the age and as more mature and intellectual development in the child takes place. The increase of age shows that the changes in the bullying range from being overt to being covert with age, particularly with girls (Galen and Underwood, cited in Hilarski et al., 2004, p.9). Findings that have been given in by Seals and Young (2003) have successfully showed that there was no difference between the occurrence or type of bullying between seventh and eighth graders. Hilarski et al., (2004) findings however, conflicted with these previous conclusions, in that physical bullying increased from 6% to 17% for girls and boys between elementary and middle school (Hilarski et al., 2004, p.5) whereas, the percentage of verbal bullying remained similar as 26% and 22% respectively. Research studies into the profiles of bullying victims are plenty. The bullying victims range in not only the physical outlook and the strength but also there are some psychological issues mentioned being the characteristics of these bullying victims. The physical descriptions that have been given by the researchers are that the bullying victims are repeatedly described as bodily smaller and socially inhibited. The psychological descriptions that add up to the descriptions of the bullied victims include being easily upset, wary, unhappy, nervous, quiet and inhibited (Khot, & Polmear, 2006, p.95). They are also presented as inert or compliant (Hazler, 1996, p.171), usually lacking in self confidence. Duncan (1999) has noted that victims of bullying possess 'lower self esteem,' (Seals and Young, 2003, para. 4) and often react to attack by crying (Huesmann, 1994, p.99). Hilarski et al. (2004) has claimed that victims are "associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of self-esteem," (Hilarski et al., 2004, p.20) and Delfabbro et al. (2006) has also found that victims had lower self esteem and were more depressed and anxious. They are thus susceptible to bullies, who are aware that they are easy targets who will not retaliate. Perhaps a less common victim may be one that is both fearful and hostile, who may actually goad or cause bullying. Thereby it is said that the bullying victims are generally the children who are lesser in self confidence (Smith, 1999, p. 234) and they find too hard to fight against the children who are bullying them. The lesser self-confidence thereby leads these children to find easy escapes especially the routine suicides that we have noticed in the research and since the past years. The way the victims are bullied by the other children in different countries is not seen to be in a coherent manner and the ways differ in different regions thereby suggesting that the accountings of a bully do not seem to be as lucid, and unlike the archetypal victim, there does not appear to be a characteristic bully. When the appearances of the bullies is taken into account it is seen that they are very often stereotyped as loud, aggressive (Vickers, 2006, p.275), large in physical appearance, are not too smart and do not conform to social conventions. Attwood (2004) suggested that bullies are children who are generally called up in the category of those who want to "feel better, they like and enjoy scaring others, have more power and control, be cool, and get what they want," and that research proposes they "need to be in control, lack empathy for the target and tend to defy authority." (Attwood, 2004, para.1). Other research on the other hand, has found other aspects related to the nature and the psychologies of the kids who are in a habit of bullying others. It has been said that these bullying kids may in fact, be the cool kid, the popular kid in class, full of confidence and apparent self-esteem. These factors generally also add up to the kids' popularity within the schools and the educational institutes which somehow make the kids to think that being popularity they have the right and the responsibility to bully the other weaker kids. Seals and Young (2003) found that they were often "more popular in school and had high levels of self esteem" (Seals and Young, 2003, Discussion section, para. 4). The need for many young people to belong to a group or gang, may also incite bullying because the group may acquire power by bullying those who are not members of the faction or bunch. Limitations Although, there has been an apparent proliferation of research and literature into the issue of bullying, particularly in terms of gender and age, there appears to be a lack of studies into the profiles of both victims and bullies. Although there is more evidence provided in terms of victims than there is of bullies, it is still not sufficient. Further research is required into the family and genetic background of both victims and bullies and why they are what they are. Such studies would then provide much needed information from which better intervention and mediation programs could be formed. This will limit the data that needs to be collected for the research purpose. References Attwood, T. (2004). Strategies to reduce the bullying of young children with Asperger Syndrome. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 29 (3), 15+. Retrieved March 22, 2009, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qsta=o&d=5007155057 Benbenishty, R., & Astor, R. (2005). School Violence in Context: Culture, Neighborhood, Family, School, and Gender. USA: Oxford University Press. Delfabbro, P., et al. (2006). Peer and teacher bullying/victimization of South Australian secondary school students: Prevalence and psychosocial profiles. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76 (1), 71-90. Geffner, R., Loring, M. T., & Young, C. (2002). Bullying Behavior: Current Issues, Research, and Interventions. US: Routledge. Green, G. (2007). Bullying: A concern for survival. Education, 128 (2), 333+. Retrieved March 22, 2009, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qsta=o&d=5025695741 Hazler, R. (1996). Breaking The Cycle Of Violence: Interventions For Bullying And Victimization. US: Taylor & Francis. Hilarski, Carol et al. (2004) Bully-victimization related to gender and grade level: Implications for prevention efforts. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 1(2/3), 5-24. Huesmann, L. R. (1994). Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. US: Springer. Khot, A., & Polmear, A. (2006). Practical General Practice: Guidelines for Effective Clinical Management. UK: Butterworth-Heinemann. Osler, A., & Vincent, K. (2003). Girls and Exclusion: Rethinking the Agenda. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Seals, D., & Young, J. (2003). Bullying and victimization: Prevalence and relationship to gender, grade level, ethnicity, self-Esteem, and depression. Adolescence, 38(152), 735+. Retrieved March 22, 2009, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qsta=o&d=5002649513 Smith, P. K. (1999). The Nature of School Bullying: A Cross-National Perspective. US: Routledge. Vickers, M. H. (2006). Towards employee wellness: Rethinking bullying paradoxes and masks. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 18 (4), 267-281. Read More