Prejudice and Ethnic Bullying Among Children: The Role of Moral Disengagement and Student-Teacher Relationship

Abstract

The identification of factors associated with ethnic bullying within multiethnic schools is a timely social issue. Up to now, ethnic prejudice has been found to facilitate aggression triggered by schoolmates’ cultural background. Yet, there is still a dearth of research about the mechanisms underlying this relation among children. In order to fill this gap, by adopting a social-cognitive developmental perspective on prejudice and morality, this paper investigated the mediating role of moral disengagement in the association between ethnic prejudice and ethnic bullying, as well as the moderating role of closeness with the teacher. A mediation model and a moderated mediation model were applied to data collected from 552 primary school children aged 8–10years. Ethnic prejudice, ethnic bullying, and moral disengagement were assessed through self-reported questionnaires, whereas a questionnaire was administered to teachers to assess the level of closeness with their pupils. Results indicated that ethnic prejudice was directly and positively related to ethnic bullying and that moral disengagement partially mediated this association. This indirect link was particularly strong for children with low levels of closeness with their teachers, whereas it resulted not significant for pupils with high levels of closeness, suggesting that closeness with the teacher might restrain morally disengaged children from enacting ethnic bullying. Implications for research and practice aimed at reducing prejudice and moral disengagement, as well as at promoting positive relationships among children and between pupils and teachers, are discussed.

Theoretical Perspectives and Two Explanatory Models of School Bullying

“…Morally disengaged students are seen as more likely to engage in bullying. Such disengagement is likely to be influenced by group membership and the social norms they share, as well as by personal prejudice (Iannello et al, 2021).…”

Prejudice in children and extremism in adults: Intriguing mindset convergences

“…By using disengagement processes, the individual redefines harmful conduct as honorable. In the context of racist/ethnic bullying in schools, moral disengagement mediates the relation between ethnic prejudice (attitudes) and ethnic harassment and bullying (behavior) by making the harassment and the bullying appear legitimate (Iannello et al, 2021). At the adult level, there is substantial empirical evidence supporting the link between moral disengagement and support for political extremism (Nivette et al, 2017).…”

“…The author notes that such prejudice may stem from collective memories of Britain’s relation to Germany during the First and Second World Wars, and negative unsympathetic images of the German ‘enemy’ in textbooks, television programs, and even in children’s comic books (Rutland, 1999: 66). Today, in the 21st century, schools, which are supposed to be a safe haven for children’s optimal development, are still challenged by the mushrooming of racist and ethnocentric movements against minority students (Iannello et al, 2021; Sapouna et al, 2022; Xu et al, 2020).…”

“…In such cases, this child’s behavior has been described as an instance of out-group prejudice (Aboud, 2003; Allport, 1954; Augoustinos and Rosewarne, 2001; Bar-Tal, 1996; Brewer, 1999, 2001; Cameron et al, 2001; Enesco et al, 2005; Fitzroy and Rutland, 2010). Racial/ethnic prejudice has been found to facilitate school bullying triggered by children’s cultural background (Iannello et al, 2021), with ethnic minority youth being more often targets of harassment than ethnic majority youth, and immigrant youth consistently scoring higher on racist victimization than native youth (Strohmeier et al, 2011). Racial and ethnic minority youth who are targeted due to a socially stigmatized identity such as gender or sexual identity, race, ethnicity, or immigrant status are at high risk for negative mental health and behavioral outcomes throughout the lifespan (Xu et al, 2020).…”

A short-term longitudinal study on the development of moral disengagement among schoolchildren: the role of collective moral disengagement, authoritative teaching, and student-teacher relationship quality

“…For instance, one Swedish study showed that students demonstrating higher moral disengagement in conjunction with poorer student-teacher relationship quality were more prone to reinforce in bullying situations ( Sjögren et al, 2021b ). Another study on ethnic bullying in Italy showed that closeness to teachers might restrain morally disengaged children from bullying ( Iannello et al, 2021 ).…”