This post is an excerpt from my book, The Bully and The Booger Baby: A Cautionary Tale. I haveposted an excerpt from a chapter specifically for parents, teachers and other child caregivers. The chapter presents some key research finding on the psychological nature of bullies and victims of bullies. A portion of that chapter is excerpted here:
Research from the American Psychological Association has also
determined that poor social problem solving skills are key factors that affect
much of the bullying that occurs. Children who don’t have good social problem
solving skills face a greater risk for being bullies and victims of bullies.
Lack of good social problem solving skills, negative attitudes about school,
and lack of self esteem, in both bullies and victims, sometimes stem from
conflict and lack of good parenting. This finding, however, should not be
construed as an indictment on the parenting skills of all parents whose
children may be displaying bullying behavior or who may be victims of bullying.
There are far too many variables involved to make such an indictment. A child’s
aggressive behavior and a child’s likeliness to be a victim of aggressive behavior
may also reflect abuse from another family member or a family friend or
acquaintance, and not always the parents.
The research findings would seem to suggest, however, that an effective
anti-bullying campaign should be focused on more than punishment alone. It is
important to address all risk factors, including school and home environment, that may lead to bullying and victimization behavior
in the first place.
Being armed with the knowledge of the psychological factors that
may contribute to bullying and to being victims of bullying may help
considerably in solving the bullying dilemma. Such insights to bullying should
help shape interventions and improve anti-bullying endeavors.
Recommended Anti Bullying Programs, Workshops, and
Presentations
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