Bullying: Therapist’s Interventions

A CSI Staff TrainingWest Roxbury

12/9/15

Frank C. Sacco, Ph.D.President, Community Services Institute

fcsacco11@gmail.com www.intaaps.org

Materials available at CSI’s Clinical Resources www.communityserv.com

backoff.mp3

BOTTOM LINE

• Bullying is a social process not a person: bully-victim-bystander dynamic (many forms-same dynamic)

• Prevention and intervention need to begin early and be woven together: school violence is a community issue reflected in the school

• Therapists function from within the family to coordinate signals to youth from Home & School

• TM is a great action intervention to build this bridge between home and school

What is School Violence?

• Destructive or Withdrawn Behavior at School– Bullying is the universal fuel for violence– Active Violence is Directed OUT (Oppositional and

disruptive disorders, conduct disorders, and Impulse Disorders)----Bully Role

– Passive Violence is Directed IN (suicide, eating disorders, substance use, truancy, and wasted intelligence)------Victim Role Fostered by Bystanders

Bullying is Violence

• Humiliation is the end product of bullying• Shame leads to Violence (Gilligan, J.) • Violence can go IN (suicide-Phoebe

Prince/Carl Whitaker or OUT-Kliebold & Harris)• Bullying happens at all ages, all SES, and in

every country

CIRCLE OF POWER

ALL ROLES ARE CO-CREATEDFIXED ROLESBECOME

REPEATEDPATTERNS

ALL PEOPLE OCCUPY ALL ROLES AT

DIFFERENT TIMES

VICTIMIZER ROLE

VICTIM ROLE BYSTANDER ROLE

BYSTANDER ROLE

ROLES ARE NOT DIAGNOSES

The Home, School and Community:Synchronizing the Signals

• Essential contexts for assessing school violence and invigorating bully prevention

• Areas are in a dialectic: One area alone doesn’t offer the necessary perspective to clinically solve the problem of violence at school

• Interventions must impact the balance in these interlocking systems in a child’s life

Cyber Community & School Climate

• Exists Parallel to Personal Connections• Constant and Inescapable in Consciousness• Generationally-Determined Rules of Conduct– Text Response Protocol– Facebook Behavior– Revealing Personal Information– Misuse of Intimate Images– Ever Present Video Capture-Distribution

• Alternative, “as if” Identities• Entry and Exit into Mainstream Peer Culture

Assessment : Areas of Functioning• HOME

– Active Abuse– High Stress Conditions– Developmental Strains– Substitute Care

• SCHOOL– Bullying, Cliques, Social De-valuation– Undiscovered Learning Weakness-Wrong Class– Lack of Resources to Cope with High Risk Youth– Adult Bullying at School

• Community– No positive outlets– Active risk– Over scheduled by Adults

Concrete Intervention Goals• Contain Aggression

– Home & School Discourage Coercion– Parents Supporting Teachers– Teacher Modeling Desirable Behavior– In-school Time Out

• Redirect Focus– Positive Adult Mentors– High Interest School-Community Activity– Rewarding Positive Behavior

• Reduce Pressure– Changing Schedules and Offering Breaks– Eliminating Frustration-inducing activities– After School Activity

• Prevent Shame– Learning Accommodations– Eliminate Public Discipline– Active Bully Prevention– Managing Cyberbullying