Bullying amongst young people is a serious and pervasive problem, and recent rapid advances in electronic communication technologies have provided even more tools for bullies to exploit. School Bullying and Mental Health collates current research evidence and theoretical perspectives about school bullying in one comprehensive volume, identifying the nature and extent of bullying and cyberbullying at school, as well as its impact on children and young people’s emotional health and well-being. There are many negative consequences of bullying, and children and young people who have been victimised often suffer long-term psychological problems, such as increased levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, social isolation, loneliness and suicidal ideation. Perpetrators of bullying also have a heightened risk of experiencing problems such as anxiety and depression, as well as eating disorders and antisocial behaviour. Founded on rigorous academic research, this important book tackles the negative consequences of bullying, and bullying culture itself, by examining the social and cultural contexts that perpetuate such behaviour from childhood through adolescence and potentially into adulthood. Containing contributions from an international team of authors, this book explores current interventions to prevent and reduce school bullying and to alleviate its negative effects on the mental health of children and young people. In-depth discussion of the profound implications of this research for researchers, practitioners and policymakers makes this book essential reading for those interested in bullying culture and the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.

Bullying has long been tolerated as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have "asked for" this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied begins to internalize this idea. For many years, there has been a general acceptance and collective shrug when it comes to a child or adolescent with greater social capital or power pushing around a child perceived as subordinate. But bullying is not developmentally appropriate; it should not be considered a normal part of the typical social grouping that occurs throughout a child's life. Although bullying behavior endures through generations, the milieu is changing. Historically, bulling has occurred at school, the physical setting in which most of childhood is centered and the primary source for peer group formation. In recent years, however, the physical setting is not the only place bullying is occurring. Technology allows for an entirely new type of digital electronic aggression, cyberbullying, which takes place through chat rooms, instant messaging, social media, and other forms of digital electronic communication. Composition of peer groups, shifting demographics, changing societal norms, and modern technology are contextual factors that must be considered to understand and effectively react to bullying in the United States. Youth are embedded in multiple contexts and each of these contexts interacts with individual characteristics of youth in ways that either exacerbate or attenuate the association between these individual characteristics and bullying perpetration or victimization. Recognizing that bullying behavior is a major public health problem that demands the concerted and coordinated time and attention of parents, educators and school administrators, health care providers, policy makers, families, and others concerned with the care of children, this report evaluates the state of the science on biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization and the risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences.

Bullying is a multifaceted phenomenon and is connected to a variety of individual, relational, familial, schooling, and cultural variables. In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the predictive factors, coping strategies, and effects on mental health of school bullying. Topics discussed include the parental views of children's bullying experiences, coping strategies, and their association with parenting practices; personal and environmental predictors of school bullying and its emotional consequences; coping strategies of secondary school students experiencing bullying; bullying/victimisation in preschool children; discordances in adolescents' adoption of perspectives on bullying and their importance for dealing with the problem; school bullying and health problems; the modifying factors, impact on psychosocial well-being and intervention strategies of bullying in childhood and adolescence; why do bullies bully?; the role of father involvement in children's bullying behaviour; and the implementation of a state-wide bullying prevention program and its impact on schools and communities.

School Bullying and Violence: Interventions for School Mental Health Specialists provides readers assessment and intervention strategies for responding to students who have experienced cyberbullying, bullying, and violence. The book also describes how to intervene and respond to student perpetrators of cyberbullying, bullying, and violence.

School cyberbullying, bullying and violence have reached epidemic levels. One in five school students report being bullied. Youth violence results in more than 475,000 nonfatal injuries per year and is the 3rd leading cause of death for young people ages 10-to-24. School Bullying and Violence: Interventions for School Mental Health Specialists provides critically important assessment and intervention information and strategies. Such information is essential when responding to bullying and school violence survivors. Equally important, and unique to this book, the authors address assessment and intervention protocols for bullying and violence school perpetrators. Suggested assessments and interventions are both practical and proactive. And, the authors skillfully utilize mini-case vignettes to demonstrate how to address survivor and perpetrator pressing issues, concerns, and needs. The text provides a thorough overview of helpful face-to-face clinical interviews and techniques designed to empower and protect survivors and stop perpetrators' bullying and violent behaviors. Mnemonics such as the 2WHO-SCAN and VIOLENT STUdent Scale augment the school mental health specialist's clinical judgement and promote higher probability toward favorable clinical intervention outcomes. Establishment of a school safety and risk committee is also outlined. Later chapters describe how to utilize Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychological First Aid and Systems of Care to help students and their families address both bullying and violent behaviors. The book serves as a much-needed reference for school mental health specialists who serve both bullying and violence survivors and perpetrators.

This book addresses, and seeks to harmonise, different paradigms for understanding school bullying. It sets out to examine two paradigms for conceptualising bullying, and the worldviews that underpin them. It uses a complex systems perspective to bring the two paradigms together in a holistic fashion. By doing so, it creates an integrated framework for conceptualising the many individual, relational and societal factors that are in dynamic interaction and play a part in promoting or reducing school bullying. This book draws upon a number of disciplines by way of background, including evolutionary, child development and social psychological theories of group behaviour and identity. It proposes that the human need for belonging is central to understanding bullying, and situates the topic within an understanding of gender and children’s human rights, bringing philosophical and moral perspectives to bear. It discusses practical ways forward, presents a systemic approach to bullying and application of complex adaptive systems methods to bullying research and evaluation. It serves as an introduction to such methods and suggests further creative ideas for policy, intervention practice, and teacher education about bullying.

An explosion of research on bullying has raised our collective awareness of the serious impacts it can have on children. No longer do we accept it as an innocuous rite of passage, just a part of growing up that we grin and bear and grow out of later. But do we grow out of it, or are there lingering effects that last well beyond the school playgrounds and lunchrooms? Is bullying traumatic and, if so, does it last into adult life? Are there life-long consequences or are the effects pretty much shed as people grow? Are some of us more resilient than others? Are there any positive or unexpected outcomes as a result of being bullied (or having been a bully) as a child? In an effort to answer these questions, Bullying Scars describes childhood bullying from the vantage point of those victims, bullies, and bystanders who are now adults; the book discusses how lives have been changed, and explores the range of reactions adults exhibit.The research gathered for this book, through interviews with over 800 people, points out that even adult decision-making is often altered by the victimization they experience as children at the hands of peers, siblings, parents, or educators. Written in an engaging and accessible style that draws heavily from the rich interview data that deLara has collected, this book will be of interest to anyone struggling with the lingering effects of being bullied. Additionally, it is highly relevant to mental health professionals -- counselors, therapists, social workers, clinical psychologists -- working with clients who are dealing with these issues.