Bullying as a social problem – investigating the group nature of school violence

foreign languages
general courses

During the seminar we will discuss the problem of school bullying with a specific focus on the group nature of this phenomenon. Bullying is a specific type of violence that happens in schools and it is a group phenomenon. It affects the bullies themselves, the bullied and the bystanders. Bullies act proactively, their behaviour is planned, “cold-blooded” and aimed at building social status in the group. Therefore, the bystanders play an important role in the process. Based on the classical studies of the topic (Dan Olweus, Christina Salmivalli) and the recent research papers we will discuss different aspects of the problem: theoretical and methodological issues and the findings of different studies, related to bullies, victims, bystanders, school climate and wider social context.

During the seminar we will discuss the problem of school bullying with a specific focus on the group nature of this phenomenon. Bullying is a specific type of violence that happens in schools and it is a group phenomenon. It affects the bullies themselves, the bullied and the bystanders. Bullies act proactively, their behaviour is planned, “cold-blooded” and aimed at building social status in the group. Therefore, the bystanders play an important role in the process. Based on the classical studies of the topic (Olweus, Salmivalli) and the recent research papers we will discuss different aspects of the problem: theoretical and methodological issues and the findings of different studies, related to bullies, victims, bystanders, school climate and wider social context. We will also look at the problem from a game-theoretical point of view (this perspective is designed to study interactions of rational players) and have a peek to the social network analysis perspective that seems promising in analyzing dynamic relations within the classroom.

The list of topics will include (some topics will be covered during more than one meeting while others may be presented only briefly – depending on the preferences of the group):

1. The bully, the bullied and the bystander – about group nature of the phenomenon

2. Violence, aggression, bullying – how to define bullying?

3. Methodological issues – how to measure bullying and victimization?

4. Beyond the bully-victim dyad – roles in the process and how it is embedded in a wider context

5. The bullied – what do we know about the victims?

6. The bully – what do we know about the perpetrators?

7. The bystander – what do we know about the witnesses?

8. Wider context: teachers, parents, classroom, school climate

9. Relations within the classroom – social networks perspective

10. Violent games: game theoretical approach to bullying

11. Different playgrounds and the same story: bullying, mobbing, hazing

12. What can we do about that: prevention programmes

1-3 topics will be covered in an e-learning mode – via KAMPUS UW e-learning platform.

During the course we will analyse scientific papers and other reports on the topic of bullying as well as other resources, e.g. websites of bullying prevention programmes.

After the end of the seminar participants will be able to:

● Compare different types of school violence

● Argue why school violence should be seen in a wider context than as an individual or psychological problem

● Give examples of studies related to school violence and discuss the methods used in those studies

● Describe different roles in bullying

● Discuss the role of social context of violence

● Give examples of prevention programmes and the mechanisms they target

This seminar will be an opportunity to practice different communication skills. Participants will be encouraged to discuss certain questions in groups, to perform short tasks in small groups during the classes (e.g. searching for some information and presenting the results of that search to the rest of the group), to make a short presentation on a given subject and – as a final assignment – to make a group presentation on a chosen subject. Participants will also be encouraged to provide feedback to other presenters.

K_W01 Knows and understands basic concepts of various sub-domains of sociology (e.g. sociology of family, health, work, religion, economy, education, etc)

K_U17 Can relate an academic text to the problems of social life and its empirical studies

K_U18 Can identify the kinds of research in which the scientific texts read can be applicable

K_U19 Can prepare a presentation of a selected problem or study in Polish and in a foreign language

K_K07 Can justify the choice of sources

K_K14 Takes responsibility for planned and performed tasks

- participation in group discussions and tasks during the classes

- short (max.10-15 min) individual presentation

- final group assignment – group presentations on chosen topic