ABSTRACT
Hate speech is a social phenomenon that also affects the school environment. However, what school staff understands by hate speech is unclear, and therefore, the objective of the present interview study with teachers (nâ¯= 18) and social pedagogues (nâ¯= 16). The results showed that hate speech is understood as the degradation of structurally oppressed groups (e.g., trans persons, homosexuals, Jewish people). Participants often did not recognize subtler forms of hate speech as a problem and understood hate speech primarily as an online phenomenon, even when incidents were reported in schools. It can be concluded that educational school staff needs to be sensitized to offline hate speech and subtler forms to increase their willingness to intervene.
ABSTRACT
We applied the Social Cognitive Theory to investigate whether parent-child relationships, bullying victimization, and teacher-student relationships are directly as well as indirectly via self-efficacy in social conflicts associated with adolescents' willingness to intervene in a bullying incident. There were 2071 (51.3% male) adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 from 24 schools in Germany who participated in this study. A mediation test using structural equation modeling revealed that parent-child relationships, bullying victimization, and teacher-student relationships were directly related to adolescents' self-efficacy in social conflicts. Further, teacher-student relationships and bullying victimization were directly associated with adolescents' willingness to intervene in bullying. Finally, relationships with parents, peers and teachers were indirectly related to higher levels of students' willingness to intervene in bullying situations due to self-efficacy in social conflicts. Thus, our analysis confirms the general assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory and the usefulness of applying its approach to social conflicts such as bullying situations.
Subject(s)
Bullying/psychology , Crime Victims/psychology , Parent-Child Relations , School Teachers/psychology , Students/psychology , Adolescent , Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Child , Cognition , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Female , Germany , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Peer Group , Schools , Self EfficacyABSTRACT
Although school climate and self-efficacy have received some attention in the literature, as correlates of students' willingness to intervene in bullying, to date, very little is known about the potential mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between classroom climate and students' willingness to intervene in bullying. To this end, the present study analyzes whether the relationship between classroom cohesion (as one facet of classroom climate) and students' willingness to intervene in bullying situations is mediated by self-efficacy in social conflicts. This study is based on a representative stratified random sample of two thousand and seventy-one students (51.3% male), between the ages of twelve and seventeen, from twenty-four schools in Germany. Results showed that between 43% and 48% of students reported that they would not intervene in bullying. A mediation test using the structural equation modeling framework revealed that classroom cohesion and self-efficacy in social conflicts were directly associated with students' willingness to intervene in bullying situations. Furthermore, classroom cohesion was indirectly associated with higher levels of students' willingness to intervene in bullying situations, due to self-efficacy in social conflicts. We thus conclude that: (1) It is crucial to increase students' willingness to intervene in bullying; (2) efforts to increase students' willingness to intervene in bullying should promote students' confidence in dealing with social conflicts and interpersonal relationships; and (3) self-efficacy plays an important role in understanding the relationship between classroom cohesion and students' willingness to intervene in bullying. Recommendations are provided to help increase adolescents' willingness to intervene in bullying and for future research.
Subject(s)
Bullying/prevention & control , Peer Group , Self Efficacy , Students/psychology , Adolescent , Child , Female , Germany , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , MaleABSTRACT
The article gives an overview of violence at school combined with the health of students. Based on the assumption that violence and health are two sides of the same coin, the article considers the question of the development of violence and bullying phenomena at German schools and its relation to student health. Long-term studies by the authors, such as the international Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, constitute the empirical basis. Prevalence and structures of student violence, as well as the relation between violence and health, are clarified and consequences for the prevention of violence and health are shown on the basis of our own empirical studies. Contrary to dramatic estimates in the media, a continuous reduction of bullying problems at German schools has been registered in recent years. In reference to the relation between violence and health, a significant correlation between dissocial behavior and health parameters was found. Victims and bully-victims show the most health problems and innocent bystanders the least health problems. In contrast to previous findings, bullies show a more positive prevailing mood. Due to the found associations between violence and health, it appears reasonable to combine violence prevention and health promotion measures to achieve sustainable prevention effects.
