Memorandum submitted by The Association
of Educational Psychologists
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
This submission attempts to address some of
the points raised in the terms of reference, paying particular
attention to the section on tackling the problem of bullying in
schools and the wider community. It centres on two approaches
to bullying that are well supported by research evidence to be
effective in preventing and dealing with bullying in schools.
The first is a multi-level approach, which is explained in this
paper with some examples of activities. The second is a Restorative
Approach that respects all individuals and provides a framework
for opposing unacceptable behaviour, such as bullying.
2. INTRODUCTION
The Association of Educational Psychologists
is a certificated Trade Union and professional association that
represents 93% of Educational Psychologists in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland. The majority of Educational Psychologists
work in Local Authorities providing advice and support for children
and young people aged between three to 19 years.
3. A key part of the role of Educational
Psychologists is to support children and young people who have
social, emotional and/or behavioural issues at school that adversely
impact on their ability to access the curriculum. These difficulties
may, and often do arise because of bullying at school and in the
wider community. As applied psychologists, Educational Psychologists
have expertise in all aspects of child development, and are able
to use their knowledge and skills to effect positive change for
children, young people and their families. Educational Psychologists
have knowledge and skills of social relationships, group dynamics
and organisations and apply psychology to bring about change at
a wider, systemic level that will benefit all the children and
young people within the school.
4. Educational Psychologists are often requested
to provide advice and support on bullying issues. This can be
through i) training; ii) providing therapeutic support to individual
children and young people; iii) helping the school to set up support
systems and undertake a needs analysis; iv) advising on the school's
anti-bullying policy, and related work.
5. EXTENT AND
NATURE OF
THE PROBLEM
The terms of reference for the submission asks
how bullying should be defined. Bullying is commonly understood
as aggressive behaviour that is intended to cause harm or distress,
exists in a relationship in which there is an imbalance of power
or strength and is repeated over time. Bullying may involve physical
actions, spoken and written words, including text messages on
mobile phones, or social isolation. Bullying is frequently indirect
or subtle in nature, including the spreading of rumours.
6. D'Angelli found in a 1998 study that
up to half of lesbians and gay men had experienced some form of
bullying in school. In 2002, Adams, Cox and Dunstan reported on
a growing body of research evidence in the UK suggesting that
homophobic bullying is more severe than general bullying, and
that homophobic bullying is not always taken as seriously as other
forms of bullying by teachers. It is estimated that 40% of young
gay people have attempted suicide, and that bullying is a major
contributory factor.
7. SHORT AND
LONG TERM
EFFECTS
Research has found that the short-term effects
of bullying on children and young people include:
— Loss of esteem and self confidence.
— Withdrawal from social situations.
— Inability to concentrate.
8. Long term effects of bullying have been
found to include the following:
— Feelings of guilt and shame.
— Anxiety, including panic attacks.
— Fear of meeting strangers.
— Exceptional timidity (Elliot and
Kilpatrick, 1994).
9. TACKLING THE
PROBLEM
Conflict resolution, peer mediation strategies
and group therapy have all been shown to be relatively ineffective
in preventing and resolving bullying issues. This is because bullying
behaviour results from a power imbalance rather than deficits
in social skills, in fact bullying involves highly developed social
skills. It is also important to acknowledge that bullying behaviours
are maintained by tangible and social reinforcers. Both of these
factors need to be considered when it comes to developing and
implementing interventions that aim to deal with bullying.
10. The two approaches that will be looked
at here are multi-level bullying intervention programmes and approaches
based on Restorative Justice.
11. The Elton Report stated, "[...]
research suggests that bullying not only causes considerable suffering
to individual pupils but also has a damaging effect on school
atmosphere." (Department of Education and Science, 1989,
pp 102-103). It therefore makes sense to tackle bullying at the
systemic level of the school, as well as dealing with situations
at the level of the individual.
12. One of the oldest and most researched
bullying prevention programmes is that devised by Olweus (1983).
The main goal of the programme was to make the school a safe and
positive learning environment for all children. An important premise
of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme is that bullying behaviour
can be checked and re-directed into more pro-social directions
through restructuring of the social environment.
13. More recent interventions have built
on the work of Olweus, and it appears that one of the most effective
approaches to bullying involves multi-level strategies that target
bullies, victims, bystanders, families and communities. Work by
Larson, Smith and Furlong (2002) found that for a multi-level
approach to be effective, it must include the following:
— School-level interventions designed
to change the overall culture of the school. This could be undertaking
a needs assessment, and the planning and co-ordination of strategies.
— Classroom-level interventions targeting
teachers and other adults and including the integration of bullying
prevention material into the curriculum.
— Student-level interventions to target
individual and small groups of victims and bullies. This could
include teaching students to recognise and report bullying and
how to intervene to help victims, developing social competence
by changing views and attitudes through interactive teaching approaches
and helping victims to recognise attributes that place them at
risk of being bullied.
For this multi-level approach to be successful,
involvement of parents/carers is vital, and all of the interventions
must be fully implemented. Partial implementation of strategies
has found to be ineffective.
14. The second approach to bullying that
will be covered in this submission is Restorative Justice. This
is a process through which all stakeholders come together to resolve
how to deal with the consequences of bullying behaviour and its
implications for the future. At its core are the values of healing,
moral learning, community participation and caring, respectful
dialogues, forgiveness, responsiveness, apology and making amends.
15. Re-integrative shaming is pivotal to
an approach to bullying based on the principles of restorative
justice. Re-integrative shaming is where disapproval is communicated
within a continuum of respect for the bully. The bully is treated
as a "good person" who has done a wrong deed. This is
different from the stigmatization form of shame, where the bully
is treated as a "bad person", and is less likely to
be perceived as someone who can change his or her ways.
16. This type of approach is integral to
behaviour management strategies In Japanese classrooms, Lewis
(1989) identified four principles of behaviour management in Japanese
classrooms that had a positive impact on the prevention of bullying
behaviour. These were:
— Minimising the impression of teacher
control.
— Delegating control to children.
— Providing plentiful opportunities
for children to acquire a "good girl" or "good
boy" identity.
— Avoiding the attribution that children
intentionally misbehave.
The Association of Educational Psychologists
is pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to the Select
Committee's inquiry and will be pleased to provide any further
evidence, in written form or orally, that the Committee feels
may be of benefit or interest to it.
October 2006
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