Bullying in school: nature, effects and remedies

The school’s role in youths’ political efficacy: can school provide a compensatory boost to students’ political efficacy?

“…Beaumont (2010) argues that social networks and feelings of inclusion can provide a basis for beliefs in one's capacity to act politically (one of the pathways to political efficacy mentioned above). It is also clear that bad treatment from peers (bullying) has negative effects on students' self-esteem and self-concept (Ma, Stewin, and Mah 2001;Skues, Cunningham, and Pokharel 2005), and is also likely to block students' development of efficacy beliefs (Bandura 1997). On the other hand, having peers who are supportive and treat each other well can be beneficial for the development of political efficacy.…”

Toward a More Comprehensive Understanding of Bullying in School Settings

“…Smith and Sharp (2006) point out that bullying is a "systematic abuse of power" (p. 2) produced when a power asymmetry exists between the victim and the bully, which may be due to the fact that the victim belongs to a minority group or is physically or psychologically weaker than the aggressor. Along similar lines, Ma et al (2001) define bullying as a set of repeated actions which produce a physical or mental imbalance of power which results in the "empowerment" and gratification of the aggressor and pain and suffering on the part of the victim.…”

“…In terms of their psychosocial characteristics, bullies have traditionally been described as highly aggressive and impulsive, self-sufficient, and possessing a mid to high level of selfesteem (Olweus 1997;Ma et al 2001). They are less well-integrated in school than their peers who are not involved in bullying situations, yet better integrated than their victims (Rigby 1996).…”

The Joy of Violence: What about Violence is Fun in Middle-School?

“…While most books and literature reviews on school violence (Harris and Petrie 2003;Ma et al 2001;Macklem 2003;Twemlow et al 2001) recognize that violence can be fun for some children and adolescents, the extant literature has yet to fully articulate, with qualitative data, what is fun about school-based violence. This is especially true of studies from the United States, which are few when considering the large number of studies from Europe that examine such issues.…”

“…The current thinking is that bystanders can either display destructive and antisocial behaviors by providing attention or assistance to those who bully, or bystanders can display prosocial behaviors aimed at defusing potentially violent incidents at school (Frey et al 2005;Ma et al 2001). Live observation studies have found that bystanders typically reinforce aggression in school and that bystanders are in attendance in over 80% of all bullying episodes (Frey et al 2005;Hawkins et al 2001).…”