“That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors

Semi-structured one-on-one interviews with a purposive sample of 51 grade 7 students (12 years old) who reported bullying others explored what might encourage students to stop bullying others. The theoretical perspectives of symbolic interactionism, in particular the development of self and definiti...

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Main Authors: Burns, Sharyn, Cross, D., Maycock, Bruce
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37267
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author Burns, Sharyn
Cross, D.
Maycock, Bruce
author_facet Burns, Sharyn
Cross, D.
Maycock, Bruce
author_sort Burns, Sharyn
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Semi-structured one-on-one interviews with a purposive sample of 51 grade 7 students (12 years old) who reported bullying others explored what might encourage students to stop bullying others. The theoretical perspectives of symbolic interactionism, in particular the development of self and definition of the situation, were used to inform this study. Dissonance theory was used to understand how students felt about their bullying behaviors. The theme of peer group emerged as an influence when considering desisting bullying others. Feelings of dissonance reinforced by peers and the need to be accepted by peers facilitated positive changes if significant peers disapproved of bullying. Some students changed friendship groups to move away from negative situations, representing significant development of self. School-based programs can work to enhance the positive influence of prosocial students, to focus on the development of self, and to reduce the social status achieved by some through bullying others.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-372672017-09-13T15:57:25Z “That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors Burns, Sharyn Cross, D. Maycock, Bruce Peers - Schools - Children - Bullying - Health promotion Semi-structured one-on-one interviews with a purposive sample of 51 grade 7 students (12 years old) who reported bullying others explored what might encourage students to stop bullying others. The theoretical perspectives of symbolic interactionism, in particular the development of self and definition of the situation, were used to inform this study. Dissonance theory was used to understand how students felt about their bullying behaviors. The theme of peer group emerged as an influence when considering desisting bullying others. Feelings of dissonance reinforced by peers and the need to be accepted by peers facilitated positive changes if significant peers disapproved of bullying. Some students changed friendship groups to move away from negative situations, representing significant development of self. School-based programs can work to enhance the positive influence of prosocial students, to focus on the development of self, and to reduce the social status achieved by some through bullying others. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37267 10.1007/s10935-010-0218-4 Springer restricted
spellingShingle Peers - Schools - Children - Bullying - Health promotion
Burns, Sharyn
Cross, D.
Maycock, Bruce
“That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors
title “That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors
title_full “That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors
title_fullStr “That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors
title_full_unstemmed “That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors
title_short “That Could Be Me Squishing Chips on Someone’s Car.” How Friends Can Positively Influence Bullying Behaviors
title_sort “that could be me squishing chips on someone’s car.” how friends can positively influence bullying behaviors
topic Peers - Schools - Children - Bullying - Health promotion
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37267