Addressing Queer Youth and Bullying: Sociologically Informed Approaches

• In Event: Queer Kids, School Violence, and the Limits of "Bullying"

Abstract

Purposes/Objectives
In this paper, we advocate for sociology of bullying as a pathway towards more effective and meaningful interventions. We believe that the ways in which “various behaviours and practices that encompass school violence are culturally perceived and understood will impact on the strategies employed to prevent or counteract this violence” (Robinson et al, 2012, p. 9). We will articulate how our understanding of LGBTQ bullying informs research and intervention work in two areas: professional development and state-level education policy. We will present data collected during the processes of implementing these interventions and conclude with proposals for advancing a vision of bullying intervention that prioritizes educational tools for dismantling cultural investments in drawing lines between “normal” and “different.”
Framing
This research includes two intentional shifts away from behavioral definitions of bullying: bullying as social and bullying as gender regulation. Bullying is social behavior because acts of aggression are often aligned to hierarchical power dynamics that are normalized and supported within and beyond school environments, and there are social advantages to claiming higher status in social hierarchies. Bullying is gender regulation because individuals whose sex, gender, and sexuality are not perceived to conform to cisnormative and heteronormative expectations are subject to targeting. In addition to abusing the targeted individual, targeting sends messages about what forms of identity expression will be allowed throughout a community
Data
Data concerning professional development are from two studies; one on professional development about state anti-bullying law, and the other on a LGBTQ+ professional development model. The data include written evaluation forms at the end of sessions, participant reflections written during the PD experience, group and individual interviews. Data excerpts concerning policy are from two studies on implementation of state anti-bullying law. The first explored the experiences of key members of a governor convened anti-bullying task force. The second is a state-wide study on school implementation of anti-bullying law. Data include interviews and questionnaires.
Findings/Significance
Both PD and policy data indicate that stakeholders’ impulse is to smooth over problems that emerge because of student differences, not necessarily dig into the cultural roots of problems such as deep personal and institutional investments in gender normativity. However, after PD on sociological approaches to bullying, data indicated increased awareness about how bullying reinforces social norms and contributes to hostile school experiences for youth deemed “different”. In contrast, policy data indicates that state actors may perceive shifting to a social understanding of bullying as "political" due to its focus on experiences of students in protected social categories rather than singularly focusing on intervention in individual incidents, punishment, and incident reporting. We argue that in order for schools to become safer for LGBTQ students, stakeholders must invest in developing a culture that recognizes and values gender and sexuality differences. To that end, these research findings support policy and professional development content focused on increasing educators’ knowledge about diversity, patterns and forms of peer-to-peer aggression, systems of privilege and marginalization, and equity-focused educational practice.

Authors

• Elizabethe Payne, Queering Education Research Institute (QuERI)

• Melissa J. Smith, University of Central Arkansas