Session 3: Bullying and Young People, 1
3rd Global Conference
Thursday 3rd November – Saturday 5th November 2011
Prague, Czech Republic
In Loco Parentis? Bullying as a Tool for the Abuse of Power: A Case Study.
Janine L. Shamos
Private University in Johannesburg, South Africa
Fourteen year old Bradley has been emotionally, verbally and physically tormented since he was six. He was blamed by those entrusted with his safety. A group of teachers closed ranks furthering his pain by believing bullying “makes you a man.” When Bradley finally spoke out, he was punished. He had been kicked, thrown through a window, pushed down stairs and nothing was done to the perpetrators. He was suspended. He became a ‘whipping boy’ for a weak man’s ineffectual leadership and saw an adult cower behind a violent child whose parents have money and influence.
When I met Bradley he was an angry, depressed pre-teen who had withdrawn from a community that had betrayed him. He was suicidal and had started taking weapons to school. The images of bullies’ smashed noses helped him sleep.
Using the RAP programme, I provided the tools he needed to maintain his sense of self; and to undo some of the damage caused by the bullying.
The South African school system is severely flawed. Too many schools perceive bullying as a non-issue. But by turning a blind eye, schools are in contravention of the South African Schools Act. Too often parents take a back seat when it comes to the protection of their children at school, assuming they’ll “work it out”. They too seldom intervene in bullying.
Bullying is a learned behaviour that can be examined and changed. Bradley is now thriving but this case study could have had a very different ending.
Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)
Bullying Boys: The Traumatic Effects of Bullying in Male Adolescent Learners
Susan Louise Penning
Department of Psychology, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Howard College, Durban, South Africa
Objective: This study investigated the nature and extent of the relationship between bullying and trauma among male adolescent learners. Trauma was operationalised through the multiple constructs of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, dissociation and anger.
Method: In this quantitative study, two objective measures were administered (viz. the Olweus Bullying/ Victimisation Scale and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for children) to a sample of male adolescent learners between the ages of 12 and 17, from a South African male-only high school (n = 486).
Results and Discussion: Statistical analysis (correlational analysis and MANOVA) produced evidence to suggest that there was a statistically significant relationship between bullying and trauma, and this was strongest for the victim role. The relationship between bullying and trauma was dependent on the frequency of bullying; as the frequency of being bullied increased so too did the mean scores of all the five trauma subscales. In general, the findings indicated that learners presented with elevated levels of internalising trauma outcomes. Depression demonstrated the highest correlation with the victim role, followed by Posttraumatic stress. In addition, 22.4% of learners could be clinically and sub-clinically diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and 21.0% with dissociation. Overall, the findings corroborate the argument that repetitive stressful events (such as bullying) are related to symptom clusters of ongoing trauma.
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