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Developing a Philosophy About Bullying and Sexual Harassment: Cognitive Coping Strategies Among High School Students

NCJ Number
224368
Journal
Journal of School Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: 2008 Pages: 72-96
Author(s)
Ellen W. deLara
Date Published
2008
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study examined how students perceived the teasing, bullying or harassment that they might witness or experience during the school day and what means they utilized to deal with it.
Abstract
The students in this study believe that bullying and harassment are inevitable in high school. They confided that they often had to struggle to figure out how to handle a situation in which they were being bullied. Their strategies were to do nothing, utilize various cognitive mechanisms, tell an adult, or retaliate. The finding on their use of cognitive mechanisms is supported by the tenets of the 1986 social cognitive theory and research on children’s cognitive processing in bullying situations. These findings underscore the need for understanding bullying and harassment as students define it and the need for systemic change. Bullying or harassment is a part of the everyday experience of many school children in the United States. Bullying can take many forms and is considered almost inevitable. With that said, students must figure out how to deal with this phenomenon. This exploratory study investigated the views of secondary school students on bullying and harassment, as well as their strategies for handling this form of peer interaction. The study consisted of 122 students from 3 rural high schools with data gathered from 5 focus groups and 52 individual interviews. References