Perceptions of Collective Efficacy and Bullying Perpetration in Schools (original) (raw)
Related papers
School Collective Efficacy and Bullying Behaviour: A Multilevel Study
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2017
As with other forms of violent behaviour, bullying is the result of multiple influences acting on different societal levels. Yet the majority of studies on bullying focus primarily on the characteristics of individual bullies and bullied. Fewer studies have explored how the characteristics of central contexts in young people’s lives are related to bullying behaviour over and above the influence of individual-level characteristics. This study explores how teacher-rated school collective efficacy is related to student-reported bullying behaviour (traditional and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration). A central focus is to explore if school collective efficacy is related similarly to both traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Analyses are based on combined information from two independent data collections conducted in 2016 among 11th grade students (n = 6067) and teachers (n = 1251) in 58 upper secondary schools in Stockholm. The statistical method used is multilevel modellin...
Psychosocial Intervention, 30(2), 101-111, 2021
The construct of a school collective efficacy to prevent bullying has attracted attention as a way to increase a positive, school-wide climate. The current study tested the fit of several first-order models of school collective efficacy to prevent (uni-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional) bullying using a sample of 579 male (Mage = 14.31, SD = 1.78 years old) and 589 female (Mage = 14.56, SD = 1.83 years old) Mexican adolescents. The models were validated by the extent to which the model was invariant by gender and by educational level (secondary vs. high school). Moreover, the discriminant and concurrent validity of model dimensions were examined through their relationships with other constructs. The results suggest that school collective efficacy is a three-dimensional construct, with supporting evidence for cohesion, students’ social control, and teachers’ social control dimensions. Measurement invariance was found in this three-dimensional measurement model by gender and educational level. The latent means difference analysis showed some differences by gender and educational level on factors of school collective efficacy. Finally, results support our hypotheses related to discriminant and concurrent validity in relation to external variables. Overall, findings indicate this three-dimensional model is useful to measure adolescents’ perceptions of school collective efficacy.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2009
Collective efficacy, defined as informal social controls that operate under social norms of trust, is an emerging theoretical concept that has been applied to explain violence rates in neighborhoods, affiliation with deviant peers, partner violence, and adolescent delinquency. This study employed a multilevel design to examine the association between collective efficacy at the class-level and individual-level bullying perpetration and victimization using survey data from 1,729 Greek students, aged 11 to 14 years. School class collective efficacy was defined as cohesion and trust among class members combined with their willingness to intervene in the case of aggressive or bullying incidents. Our findings indicate that individual-level victimization is more frequent in classes with lower levels of collective efficacy. We conclude that the notion of collective efficacy might also prove useful in explaining bullying involvement.
Addressing school bullying: Insights from theories of group processes
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2015
In order to enhance efforts to address bullying in schools, and in response to the limited success of school-based anti-bullying programs to date, this paper considers bullying as a group phenomenon and explores theories of group processing that can inform future prevention and intervention efforts. Moving beyond efforts to reduce bullying by enhancing bystander responses, we consider research and theory addressing peer group socialization processes, the role of teachers as an "invisible hand" in structuring peer groups, social interdependence as applied to the design of cooperative learning environments, and collective efficacy. Although these theories are not in themselves developmental, and address group processes that operate across ages, they can inform both future prevention and intervention efforts and applied developmental research that explores the age-related contextual and individual factors that contribute to school bullying.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Collective efficacy is a promising theoretical construct that has been used to explain bullying rates in school. The development of school collective efficacy scales has increased in bullying research in recent years; however, gaps remain in measuring collective efficacy to handle bullying. This research assessed the psychometric properties of a new scale to evaluate collective efficacy against bullying. This first-order one-dimensional scale is called the teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy to handle bullying (TCEB) scale. A sample of 804 Mexican primary teachers completed questionnaires. The sample was randomly split into two subsamples for calibration (n = 402) and cross-validation analysis (n = 402). The factor structure was supported by confirmatory factorial analysis. Measurement equivalence was confirmed by gender. The latent means differences showed no statistically significant differences by teachers’ gender. The TCEB correlation with school environment factors (e....
SAGE Open, 2021
Differences in bullying rates between schools could be explained by school efficacy. This study examined the relationships among teachers’ perceptions of principals’ practices, school climate, and school collective efficacy to prevent bullying. The sample comprises 403 Mexican elementary-school teachers; 35% were male, and 65% were female. The teaching experience ranged from 2 to 35years (M=13.2years, SD=9.1). Teachers answered self-report measures. A latent variable structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used. SEM model indicated that principal’s bullying prevention was directly related to a positive school climate, but they did not influence teachers’ perceptions of school collective efficacy. Also, principals’ support for teachers’ antibullying practices positively affected school climate and school collective efficacy. Both principal involvement and support had an indirect relationship with school collective efficacy. Overall, findings suggest that the principal has a critical role in promoting teachers’ perceptions of school collective efficacy in bullying prevention.
2019
The time and energy it took to complete this thesis were facilitated in part by the support of the University of Delaware's Graduate Scholars Award, which I was blessed to earn both years of my time in the master's program. Thus, I am thankful to the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and the University Awards Committee at the University of Delaware for respectively nominating and selecting me for this award. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my thesis committee for their continual support, suggestions, and encouragement. I am especially appreciative of my committee chair, Dr. Ronet Bachman. Writing a thesis is no easy feat, but the task became endurable with your guidance. From reading and editing several drafts of my thesis to tirelessly answering numerous questions in my "thesis update" emails to giving me a hug for when I was stressed, you have been unequivocally supportive and reassuring. I am also grateful to the feedback and direction provided by my other committee members, Dr. Aaron Kupchik and Dr. Cresean Hughes. Aaron, thank you for keeping me on my toes by elevating my research and writing to produce a "publishable quality" thesis. Cresean, thank you for providing me with suggestions that challenged me to "think outside the box" and consider alternative ways to test the collective efficacy hypothesis. I am only hopeful iv that I can acquire a similar team of mentors as I progress into my doctoral studies at Rutgers University. I would also like to thank Dr. Yasser Payne, who has been an incredible mentor to me throughout my time at UD. Though you did not serve on my thesis committee, you were most encouraging and accommodating during the hectic final phases of the writing process. Special thanks to my cohort, Synergistic Six, for believing in me when I felt discouraged. I will miss our "cohorting" outings, which not only relieved the stress and tension of graduate school but provided me with renewed energy to resume writing. I am particularly grateful to two cohort members, Madeline Stenger and Robyn Blake, who extended their precious time and expertise to answer my many data and methods questions. Last but deeply felt, I offer my gratitude to my family (immediate and extended) who have stood in my corner since the beginning. This work might have been insurmountable without their relentless cheer, support, and sacrifice. To them, I am eternally grateful. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .
Frontiers in Psychology, 2019
The aim of this study was to examine whether individual and classroom collective social-cognitive processes (moral disengagement and self-efficacy) were associated with bullying perpetration among schoolchildren. An additional aim was to examine whether changes in these processes from grade 4 (Time 1) to grade 5 (Time 2) were associated with a change in bullying perpetration. Self-reported survey data were collected from 1,250 Swedish students from 98 classrooms. Results of multilevel analysis indicated that individual and classroom collective moral disengagement (CMD) were positively associated with bullying, and defender self-efficacy (DSE) was negatively associated with bullying. The effect of changes in individual moral disengagement on changes in bullying was positive, and the effects of changes in DSE and classroom collective efficacy on changes in bullying were negative. Thus, the findings demonstrate the changeability of moral disengagement, DSE and collective efficacy over time, and how these changes are linked to changes in bullying perpetration.
Journal of School Psychology, 2006
Bullying is a widespread social phenomenon involving both individual and group variables. The present study was aimed at analyzing how students' perception of a bullying episode might be influenced by group and context variables. A convenience sample of 455 adolescents read a short story, in which the in-group role (bully vs. victim) and level of teacher likeability (high vs. low) were manipulated. Participants were asked to evaluate their own group and an out-group, in terms of four dependent variables: liking, right to use the basketball court, attribution of blame, and attribution of punishment. Data showed a strong participant in-group bias and a generalized tendency to favor the in-group, especially when it was the victimized group. Conversely, the manipulation of teacher likeability did not affect students' perception of bullying, except for girls' attribution of punishment. Lastly, a clear gender effect emerged, in that boys accepted physical bullying more readily than girls did. Results are discussed in terms of group dynamics and preadolescent social identity concerns.
Children and Youth Services Review, 2018
School bullying has gained intensive attention from school personnel and researchers, but still, little is known about the effects of bullying perpetrating, victimization, and bystanding on critical school environment variables. Guided by the social capital theory and empirical findings, the study addressed the complexity of relations among bullying perpetrating, victimization, bystanding and students' perceived school support, acceptance of diversity at school, and perceived school connectedness. Participants in the study were 973 students in grades 3-6 from two public school districts located in the northeastern United States. The final path model supported the hypotheses that, a) bulling perpetrating has direct as well as indirect, negative effects on perceived school support, acceptance of diversity, and school connectedness; and b) bystanding has an direct effect on students' perceived acceptance of diversity at school and indirectly affects school connectedness. Results of the study aligned with the social capital perspective on positive human relations and social outcomes. Findings from this study reinforced the need of anti-bullying initiatives at the individual, group, and school-wide levels. They further underscored the importance of enhancing school support and acceptance of diversity at school.