High School Anti-Bullying Interventions: An Evaluation of Curriculum Approaches and the Method Of Shared Concern in Four Hong Kong International Schools
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online June, 2012
High School Anti-Bullying Interventions: An Evaluation of Curriculum Approaches and the Method Of Shared Concern in Four Hong Kong International Schools
The challenge for high schools to adopt effective measures to reduce bullying has been underscored by international media coverage highlighting the consequences of school bullying. Despite whole-school anti-bullying programs being accepted as the best evidence-based approaches to intervention, research continues to yield ambiguous findings, and only a limited number of studies have been conducted in secondary schools to systematically evaluate the components of this approach. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of anti-bullying interventions in four international secondary schools in Hong Kong. Schools were randomly assigned to: (a) a whole-school intervention, (b) a curriculum and Shared Concern intervention at Year 7, (c) a Shared Concern intervention at Year 7 and (d) a control school. Year 7 students in the four schools anonymously completed a bullying questionnaire at the beginning (N = 545) and end of the school year (N = 549). A highly significant main effect for schools was found between pre-test and post-test composite bullying scores (F = 7.70, p < .001). Results showed the most significant reductions occurred when a whole-school intervention was used (F = 10.73, p < .001). The research provides strong support for use of whole-school preventative/management interventions and the effective components of this approach are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BernardM.E., & MilneM.L. (2008). Safe schools are effective schools: School procedures and practices for responding to students who bully. Melbourne, Australia: Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
2.
CampbellD.T., & StanleyJ.C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.
3.
CampbellM.A. (2005). Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 15(1), 68–76.
4.
ChanJ.H.F., MyronR., & CrawshawM. (2005). The efficacy of non-anonymous measures of bullying. School Psychology International, 26(4), 443–458.
5.
CowieH., & HutsonN. (2005). Peer support: A strategy to help bystanders challenge school bullying. Pastoral Care, 23, 40–44.
6.
CrossD., ShawT., HearnL., EpsteinM., MonksH., LesterL., & ThomasL. (2009). Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS). Perth, Australia: Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University.
7.
DooleyJ.J., GradingerP., CrossD., StohmeierD., & SpielC. (2010). Cyber-victimisation: The association between help seeking and mental health symptoms in adolescents from Australia and Austria. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 20(2), 194–210.
8.
DooleyJ.J., PyzalskiJ., & CrossD. (2009). Cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying: Similarities and differences. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 217(4), 182–188.
9.
DueP., MerloJ., Harel-FischY., DamsgaardM.T., HolsteinB.E., HetlandJ., LynchJ. (2009). Socioeconomic inequality in exposure to bullying during adolescence: A comparative, cross-sectional, multilevel study in 35 countries. American Journal of Public Health, 99(5), 907–914.
10.
DuncanA. (1996). The shared concern method of resolving group bullying in schools. Educational Psychology in Practice, 12(2), 94–98.
11.
EricsonN. (2001). Addressing the problem of juvenile bullying. OJJDP Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
12.
FarringtonD.P., & TtofiM.M. (2010). School-based programs to reduce bullying and victimization: A systematic review for The Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice Group. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/229377.pdf
13.
FergusonC.J., San MiguelC.S., KilburnJ.C., & SanchezP. (2007). The effectiveness of school-based anti-bullying programs: A meta-analytic review. Criminal Justice Review, 32(4), 401–414.
14.
GayL.R., & AirasianP. (2000). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and application (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
15.
HazlerR.J., & CarneyJ.V. (2010). Cultural variations in characteristics of effective bullying programs. In JimersonS.R., SwearerS.M., & EspelageD.L. (Eds.)Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 417–430). New York: Routledge.
16.
HindujaS., & PatchinJ. W. (2009). Bullying beyond the schoolyard: Preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
17.
HoulstonC., & SmithP.K. (2009). The impact of a peer counselling scheme to address bullying in an all-girl London secondary school: A short-term longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 69–86.
18.
MerrellK.W., GueldnerB.A., RossS.W. and IsavaD.M. (2008). How effective are school bullying intervention programs? A meta-analysis of intervention research. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(1), 26–42.
19.
MorrisonB.E. (2001). The school system: Developing its capacity in the regulation of a civil society. In BraithwaiteJ. & StrangH. (Eds.), Restorative justice and civil society (pp. 195–210). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Murray-HarveyR., SleeP.T., & TakiM. (2010). Comparative and cross-cultural research on school bullying. In JimersonS.R., SwearerS.M., & EspelageD.L. (Eds.) Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 35–48). New York: Routledge.
21.
NaylorP., CowieH., CossinF., de BettencourtR., & LemmeF. (2006). Teachers’ and pupils’ definitions of bullying. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 553–576.
22.
NgJ.W.Y., & TsangS.K.M. (2008). School bullying and the mental health of junior secondary school students in Hong Kong. Journal of School Violence, 7(2), 3–20.
23.
OlweusD. (1991). Bully/victim problems among school children: Basic facts and effects of a school-based intervention programme. In PeplerD. & RubinK. (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 411–446). London: Erlbaum.
24.
OlweusD. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Oxford: Blackwell.
25.
PikasA. (1989). The Common Concern Method for the treatment of mobbing. In RolandE. & MuntheE. (Eds.), Bullying an international perspective (pp. 91–104). London: David Fulton.
26.
PikasA. (2002). New developments of the Shared Concern method. School Psychology International, 23(3), 307–326.
27.
RigbyK. (2005). The Method of Shared Concern as an intervention technique to address bullying in schools: An overview and appraisal. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 15, 27–34.
28.
RigbyK., & BagshawD. (2003). Prospects of adolescent students collaborating with teachers in addressing issues of bullying and conflict in schools. Educational Psychology, 32, 535–546.
29.
RigbyK., SmithP.K., & PeplerD.J. (2004). Working to prevent school bullying: Key issues. In SmithP.K., PeplerD., and RigbyK. (Eds.), Bullying in schools: How successful can interventions be? (pp. 1–12). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
SalmivalliC., KaukiainenA., & VoetenM. (2005). Anti-bullying intervention: Implementation and outcome. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 465–487.
31.
SmithP.K. (1999). England and Wales. In SmithP.K., MoritaY., Junger-TasJ., OlweusD., CatalanoR., & SleeP. (Eds.), The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective (pp. 67–90). London: Routledge.
32.
SmithP.K., CowieH., OlafssonR.F., & LiefoogheA.P.D. (2002). Definitions of bullying: A comparison of terms used and age and gender differences, in a fourteen-country international comparison. Child Development, 73(4), 1119–1133.
33.
SwearerS.M., EspelageD.L., VaillancourtT., & HymelS. (2010). What can be done about school bullying? Linking research to educational practice. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 38–47.
34.
TannerJ. (2009). Making schools safer? The unintended consequences of good intentions. Education Canada, 49(3), 12–15.
35.
VaillancourtT., McDougallP., HymelS., KrygsmanA., MillerJ., StiverK., & DavisC. (2008). Bullying: Are researchers and children/youth talking about the same thing?International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(6), 486–495.
36.
WongD.S.W., ChengC.H.K., NganR.M.H., & MaS.K. (2011) Program effectiveness of a restorative whole-school approach for tackling school bullying in Hong Kong. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55(6), 846–862.
