III

Bullying at School

Understanding Children's Worlds Series Editor: Judy Dunn

The study of children's development can have a profound influence on how children are brought up, cared for and educated. Many psychologists argue that, even if our knowledge is incomplete, we have a responsibility to attempt to help those concerned with the care, education and study of children by making what we know available to them. The central aim of this series is to encourage developmental psychologists to set out the findings and the implications of their research for others - teachers, doctors, social workers, students and fellow researchers - whose work involves the care, education and study of young children and their families. The information and the ideas that have grown from recent research form an important resource which should be available to them. This series provides an opportunity for psychologists to present their work in a way that is interesting, intelligible and substantial, and to discuss what its consequences may be for those who care for, and teach children: not to offer simple prescriptive advice to other professionals, but to make important and innovative research accessible to them.

Children doing Mathematics Terezhina Nunes and Peter Bryant

Children and Emotion Paul L. Harris

Bullying at School DanOlweus

How Children Think and Learn, 2e David Wood

Making Decisions about Children, 2e H. Rudolph Schaffer

Children's Talk in Communities and Classrooms Lynne Vernon-Feagans

Children and Political Violence Ed Cairns

The Work of the Imagination Paul Harris

Changing Families Jan Pryor and Bryan Rodgers

Bullying at School

What we know and what we can do

Dan Olweus

~ A Blackwell '-b Publishing

©  1993 by Dan Olweus  BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148‐5020, USA 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK  550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia  The right of Dan Olweus to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.  First published 1993  Reprinted 1994, 1995 (twice), 1996, 1999 (twice), 2000 (three times),  2001 (twice), 2002 (four times), 2003 (twice), 2004 (three times)  Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data  Olweus, Dan, 1931– 

      Bullying at  school : what we know and what we can do / Dan Olweus.            p.    cm.—(Understanding children’s worlds)        Includes bibliographical references and index.        ISBN 0–631–19241–7  (pbk)       1. Behavioural assessment of children.  2. Bullying.     3. Aggressiveness (Psychology) in children.  I. Title.  II. Series.     LB1124.048     1993                                                     93–23994    371.5’8—dc20                                                                CIP  A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.  Set in 11.5 on 13.5 pt Sabon  by Photo-graphics, Honiton, Devon Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall  The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid‐free and elementary chlorine‐free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures  that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards.  For further information on  Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com      

Contents

Foreword IX

Acknowledgments Xl

Introduction 1

Part I What We Know About Bullying 5 Stories from the Press 7 What is Meant by Bullying? 8 Some Information About the Recent Studies 10 One Student out of Seven 13 Bully/Victim Problems in Different Grades 14 Have Bully/Victim Problems Increased? 17 Bullying Among Boys and Girls 18 How Much Do the Teachers Do? How Much Do the Parents Know? 20

Bullying at School and on the Way to and from School 21

Comparison between Norway and Sweden 21 Is Bullying Primarily a Big-City Problem? 23 The Size of the School and the Class 23 Supervision during Recess and Lunch Time 25 On Analyses at Different Levels 26 Stability of Bully/Victim Problems over Time 27

Vi Contents

Is Bullying a Consequence of Competition at School? 28

What Role do External Deviations Play? 30 What Characterizes the Typical Victims? 31 What Characterizes the Typical Bullies? 34 Physical Weakness and Strength 36 A Concrete Picture 37 What Kind of Rearing Conditions Create

Aggressive Children? 39 Group Mechanisms 43 Other Factors 45 A Wider Perspective on Bully/Victim Problems 45 A Question of Fundamental Democratic Rights 48 Portrait Sketches of Henry and Roger, a Victim

and a Bully 49

Guide for the Identification of Possible Victims and Bullies 53

Being a Victim - Possible Signs 54 Being a Bully - Possible Signs 58

Part II What We Can Do About Bullying 61 Overview of Intervention Program 64 Goa~ 65 Awareness and Involvement 66

Measures at the School Level 69 A School Conference Day 69 Supervision and Outdoor Environment 70 Contact Telephone 74 A General PTA Meeting 75 Teacher Groups for the Development of the Social

Milieu of the School 77 Study Groups in Parent-Teacher Associations

(Parent Circles) 79

Measures at the Class Level Class Rules about Bullying Praise Sanctions Class Meetings Cooperative Learning Common Positive Activities Class PTA Meetings

Measures at the Individual Level Serious Talks with the Bully Talks with the Victim Talks with the Parents What Can the Parents of the Bully Do? What Can the Parents of the Victim Do? Use of Imagination Discussion Groups for Parents of Bullied or

Bullying Students Change of Class or School

Part III Effects of the Intervention Program Main Findings Brief Comments Basic Principles Additional Characteristics

Contents

Part IV Additional Practical Advice and a Core

VB

81 81 85 86 88 89 92 93

97 97 98

100 101 103 105

106 107

109 113 114 115 116

Program 119 Support from the Principal and Formation of a

Coordinating Group 122 Awareness and Involvement 123 Adequate Supervision During Recess and Lunch

Time 124 Class Rules and Class Meetings 124 Talks with Involved Students and Their Parents 125 Overview of Core Program 127 Final words 128

Vlll Contents

References

Index

129

137

Foreword

Bullying is not a new problem - nor is it unique to Scandinavia. That said, comparatively little has been known about the incidence of bullying, whether it is increasing or decreasing; whether it is more common in urban as opposed to rural areas, in large as opposed to small schools, between boys rather than girls; whether potential victims and aggressors can be identified, and - most important of all - whether anything can be done about it. All of these issues - and many more - are addressed in this scholarly yet readable book by Professor Olweus.

The author presents in detail the surveys and intervention pro­gram he conducted as part of a government-led nationwide cam­paign over the past decade. The large numbers involved in his samples (including almost one in four of an age cohort in Norway) provide a substantial base from which to draw conclusions about the nature and incidence of bullying and to make recommen­dations for its amelioration. The rich data provide support for some of the conventional wisdoms, but also destroy many long­held myths and assumptions about bullies and victims. Moreover, they enable Olweus to provide guidance on recognizing patterns of behavior or other characteristics which facilitate the identifi­cation of potential victims and of their aggressors.

The core of the book is the author's account of the intervention program - "What We Can Do About Bullying." The goals of the program were:

• to reduce (or eliminate) both direct bullying (open physical or verbal attacks) and indirect bullying (social isolation, confidence reduction)

x Foreword

• to achieve better peer relations at school • to create conditions that enabled victims and bullies to

function better in and out of the school setting.

The outcome of this intervention program not only makes fascinat­ing reading but also provides valuable suggestions for action and evidence of encouraging results.

The preventative measures Olweus describes operate on several levels - the school, the class, the individual bully or victim, and the parents. Many of the strategies suggested relate to research on school effectiveness and improvement which has stressed the importance of a shared school ethos, a consistency of approach, an agreed set of policies, a long-term action plan, and the involve­ment of parents.

The results are very encouraging. The intervention led to marked reductions in both direct and indirect bullying. That in itself is to be welcomed. Also important, however, is the finding that the program not only protected children in school, but also did not lead to antisocial activities being displaced to beyond the school premises. There were also benefits for parents in the form of a reduction in pupils' associated antisocial behavior (such as vandalism) and, for teachers, a marked improvement in the school climate. Moreover, these benefits were sustained and, indeed, increased over time. The empirical findings of this meticulous work, together with the book's final section of advice, provide a valuable source of ideas for those attempting to reduce the inci­dence of bullying or to cope with its effects.

Professor Olweus has been involved for many years in detailed longitudinal work on bullying in Scandinavia. This book provides an excellent opportunity for English-speaking policymakers and practitioners to share the fruits of his careful scholarship. As he points out in his concluding words, we now have the knowledge -what is needed is the will to do something about a problem which causes so much pain and misery (and even, in extreme cases, suicide) for too many of our young people. For their sakes this book deserves to be read widely.

Professor Peter Mortimore Institute of Education, University of London

Acknowledgments

My book Mobbning - vad vi vet och vad vi kan gora, pub­lished in Swedish in 1986 (Liber forlag, Stockholm), forms the basis of Parts I and II of the present book. Several additions to and some minor changes of the Swedish text have been made, however. Parts III and IV have been written specifically for this book.

As explained in Mobbning - vad vi vet och vad vi kan gora, the Swedish text is to some extent based on the account given in D. Olweus & E. Roland, Mobbing - bak­grunn og tiltak (Kirke- og undervisningsdepartementet, Oslo, 1983). The changes and additions that were made in relation to the Olweus & Roland account are detailed on p. 7 of the Swedish book.

I want to thank Aase Meyer, Bente Haktorsen, Turid Ped­ersen, and Thelma Kraft who, in various periods, typed and retyped the present manuscript. I am also grateful to Fran­~oise D. Alsaker, Ph.D., who assisted in conducting some of the statistical analyses underlying the results presented in Part III. She, as well as Barry Schneider, Ph.D., gave valuable comments on certain parts of the manuscript.

Writing this book was greatly facilitated by a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation, New York, for which I am very grateful.

I am also indebted to the Faculty of Psychology at the

XlI Acknowledgments

University of Bergen which freed me from several of my ordinary teaching obligations for an extended period of time. Further, thanks are due to the Norwegian Ministry of Education, the Norwegian Council for Social Research (NAVF-RSF), and the Swedish Delegation for Social Research (DSF), which, in various phases, financially sup­ported the research reported in the book. Several of the ideas presented here were developed while I was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stan­ford, USA. I am indebted to the University of Bergen, the Spencer Foundation, the Norwegian Council for Social Research, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences for financial support of my year at the Center.

Finally, I want to extend my warm thanks to my wife Kyllikki who gave generously of her time.

Bergen, December 1992 Dan Olweus

All photographs reproduced by permission of Sally and Richard Greenhill Photographers, London.

Introduction

Bullying among schoolchildren is no doubt a very old phenomenon. The fact that some children are frequently and systematically harassed and attacked by other children has been described in literary works, and many adults have per­sonal experience of it from their own school days. Though many are acquainted with the "bully/victim problem," it was not until fairly recently - in the early 1970s - that efforts were made to study it systematically (Olweus 1973a and 1978). For a number of years, these attempts were largely confined to Scandinavia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, bullying among schoolchildren has also received some public and research attention in other countries such as Japan, England, The Netherlands, Canada, the USA, and Australia.

A Historical Thumbnail Sketch

A strong societal interest in bully/victim problems was first aroused in Sweden in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Heinemann 1972; Olweus 1973a), and it quickly spread to the other Scandinavian countries.

In Norway, bully/victim problems were an issue of general