By Dagmar Strohmeier — Bullying Special Edition Contributor Updated on Feb 11, 2009 Why Do Group Processes Play a Crucial Role? (Group Level) Witnesses, Assistants, Reinforcers Beside mechanisms on the individual and dyadic level, the influence of the whole class must not be overlooked. A study conducted in Finland (5) showed that beside the perpetrator and the victim many more pupils in a class play an important role during the bullying process. This research identified outsiders (these are pupils who don’t engage in bullying) as well as students who “assist” or “reinforce” the perpetrator by on-looking, laughing, etc. were found. Students who try to defend and help the victim were also identified. Research conducted in Canada (6) has demonstrated that peers are almost always present during bullying episodes, but only rarely intervene on behalf of the victim. Moreover, our own research (7) has demonstrated that there is a very high heterogeneity between classes in prevalence rates of perpetrators and victims. We both found very peaceful classes with no bullying and very violent ones in which up to half of the pupils were involved in bullying others. Taken together, results of this study support the need to intervene on the group level and carefully tailor intervention efforts according to the needs of the particular classes. Sustainable effects will most likely with interventions that success in establishing prosocial norms for the group and positive social behavior (e.g., helping or integrating outsiders), not only in perpetrators but in the whole group.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:02:48 +0000
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