Results from numerous surveys indicate that many students do not feel safe in school. This condition exacts an academic as well as a psychological toll because, as the authors remind us, children must feel safe in order to learn. The authors of Preventing Bullying and School Violence contend that inadequate attention has been given to the role of mental health professionals in preventing bullying and school violence. They propose a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach, one that draws upon the skills of the educational, health care, and mental health communities in identifying risk, choosing appropriate interventions, and implementing targeted wellness programs. The authors see bullying as a process, not a problem originating with a single troubled person. Accordingly, they believe that bullying behaviors can be effectively addressed only by targeting the broader social context -- the coercive power and group dynamics that breed and maintain bullying and violent behavior in the school setting. The book is designed to help clinicians, school counselors, and administrators create a safe climate for their students and to respond thoughtfully, but swiftly, when threats arise. The authors offer many practical guidelines for achieving these goals, addressing The critical importance of establishing a strong connection between the family, the school, and the community in creating a healthy academic environment Strategies for working effectively with the complex social bureaucracies that often characterize the entities (such as school boards and governmental agencies) that intervene in cases involving violent children, with an emphasis on developing skills in managing both small and large groups Ways to define and recognize at-risk children who require special attention as a result of having mental illness and/or learning disability Innovative community interventions, such as therapeutic mentoring and home-based therapy, in addition to information on local, state, and federal programs designed to support antiviolence programs in the schools Techniques for promoting wellness among the student population -- not just physical wellness, but also the positive attitudes and coping skills that are the hallmarks of mental health. Preventing Bullying and School Violence aims to empower mental health professionals to work confidently and effectively in educational settings to reduce the distress, enhance the psychological well-being, and secure the safety of all schoolchildren.

This book examines the associated experiences of school bullying and violence among vulnerable and marginalized youth. It discusses the effects of diversity and disparities in youth’s experiences with bullying. Among these are socioeconomic and social status, family cohesion and interactions, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, race, ethnicity, immigration, religion, and disabilities and special health needs. The book describes the ways in which a social-ecological framework can inform the problem and address school bullying. It addresses not only individual, intrapersonal, and environmental factors of bullying, but also discusses distal level factors and conditions that are specifically relevant to youth (e.g., culture and law). In addition, this volume contextualizes relevant multilevel factors that foster or inhibit bullying victimization among vulnerable and historically marginalized children and adolescents who are faced with cumulative social stratification. Key areas of coverage include: The role of the family (parents and guardians, siblings) – its cohesion and interactions – in school bullying. Race, ethnicity, immigration, and religion and school bullying of marginalized and at-risk youth. Victimization of students with physical, emotional, and learning disorders. Bullying and victimization of vulnerable youth in the court systems. School Bullying is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians and other practitioners, graduate students, and policymakers across such disciplines as child and school psychology, social work and counseling, pediatrics and school nursing, educational policy and politics, and all interrelated disciplines.

Jonathan Cohen and Dorothy L. Espelage, two leading authorities in the fields of school climate and prevention science, have gathered experts from around the globe to highlight policy and practice recommendations for supporting children and adolescents to feel and be safe in school. Featuring analysis and commentaries from experts in public health, psychology, and school improvement, Feeling Safe in School addresses social, emotional, and intellectual aspects of safety as well as physical safety. The experts offer candid and unique insights into the way eleven different countries view and define what it means to feel safe in school, the types of goals and strategies that are being used to promote safety, and whether and how measures are being used to gauge progress. Interest in supporting the physical as well as the social and emotional safety of students as a prerequisite for learning and healthy development is now a global phenomenon. Feeling Safe in School adds to the understanding of the possibilities for increasing student safety by examining the experiences of other countries that are tackling this issue.

Argues that the rise in school violence is the consequence of a society that promotes and encourages aggressive and competitive behavior, and proposes ways to transcend these destructive trends and stress compassion over bullying.

This book provides a fully-contextualised, multidisciplinary examination of bullying and violence in South Korean society. Bullying and violence has been a pressing societal issue since 2011, having been labelled as a 'social evil' to be eradicated by the government. However, the issue has been incorrectly confined to schools when in fact it is widespread in society and in professional settings, as Bax argues in this original new text. Through twenty in-depth case studies and original case material from a Juvenile Detention Centre, Bax examines the historical, cultural, political and social contexts of bullying and violence to better understand the nature of these crimes, the perpetrators, and how they come together in the broader cultural landscape within which the individual, the family, the school and the community are embedded.

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.