3-021 - The Interplay between Person and Classroom Context in Explaining the Perpetuation of Bullying and Victimization

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The likelihood that a child keeps engaging in bullying or remains victimized at school depends both on individual and contextual factors. We will present three studies looking into effects of classroom-level factors, namely bullying-related norms and teacher-related features, as well as their interactions with children’s own social adjustment, in predicting future bullying and victimization.
This symposium brings together researchers from the United States, Finland, and the Netherlands, using multilevel, longitudinal, and intervention data as well as advanced statistical methods. Study 1 shows that being popular and being disliked led children to bully more over time, especially in classrooms with a high descriptive bullying norm or a low injunctive bullying norm (permissive classroom attitude). Study 2 investigates the effects of time-varying teacher-child relationship quality and children’s friendships on victimization trajectories throughout the year: Children with a particularly positive relationship with their teacher reported more victimization initially, especially when they had fewer friends, but this effect decreased over time. Study 3 explores the effects of bullies’ perceptions of teachers’ intervention strategies on their intention to stop and finds that both feeling blamed and feeling that their empathy was aroused increased bullies’ motivation to change.
These studies highlight the impact of classroom norms and teachers’ connection with children on the perpetuation of bullying and victimization, but also emphasize the need to consider the interplay between contextual and individual factors. Presentations will be followed by a discussion from an expert on classroom social dynamics and teaching practices and their influence on children’s adjustment.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chair

• Claire F Garandeau, Utrecht University

Discussant

• Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy

Individual Presentations

• A Longitudinal Multilevel Study of Individual Characteristics and Classroom Norms in Explaining Bullying Behaviors - Presenting Author: Miranda Sentse, Erasmus University of Rotterdam; Rene Veenstra, University of Groningen; Noona Kiuru, Univ. of Jyväskylä, Finland; Christina Salmivalli, University of Turku

• Peer Victimization Trajectories Across the School Year: The Role of Teacher-Child Relationships and Friendships - Presenting Author: Marina Serdiouk, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Daniel Berry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Scott D. Gest, Penn State Univeristy

• Effects of Bullies’ Perceptions of a Teacher Intervention on Their Intention to Change Their Behavior - Presenting Author: Claire F Garandeau, Utrecht University; Annina Vartio, Abo Akademi; Elisa Poskiparta, University of Turku; Christina Salmivalli, University of Turku