Students' and Staff Members' Understanding of the Features, Forms, and Functions Of Bullying in a High School Setting

摘要

Researchers who study bullying acknowledge that the field struggles because of a lack of a universally accepted definition of bullying. Additionally, there are concerns that research subjects may conceptualize bullying differently from the definitions offered in studies of bullying. This study seeks to assess how students and staff members understand the features, forms, and functions of bullying in a high school setting. The study involves an exploratory grounded theory preliminary study, followed by a mixed methods dissertation study. Both studies were conducted in an affluent suburban high school in the northeastern United States and included students and staff members. Findings from the preliminary study suggested that bullying was challenging for subjects to define and that traditional and stereotypical conceptualizations were inadequate in this context. The dissertation study involves survey questions, interview and focus group transcripts, and interview and focus group data that were quantified. Five vignettes (survey items) were developed based on the findings of the preliminary study. Participants were asked if the vignettes matched their understanding of the construct of bullying. Additionally, subjects participated in semi-structured interviews or focus groups during which they described or defined bullying. Lastly, interview and focus group data were coded for the number and features of bullying that subjects mentioned. Statistical analysis of the survey items suggests that subjects consider the vulnerability of the victim to be a highly salient feature of situations understood to be bullying. The grounded theory analysis suggests that elitism, a complicated and nuanced social environment, developmental change, and 'norms, status, and hierarchy' were emergent themes. These themes coalesced around a core category identified as 'negotiating identity.' Quantified data from interviews and focus groups suggest that students and staff have somewhat different understandings of bullying. The conclusions drawn from the integration of these findings suggest that bullying is a complex, socially constructed phenomenon that is not always understood consistently across stakeholders. Additionally, bullying is viewed as one of several forms of problematic social interactions that occur in this high school that include conflict, aggression, and 'drama.'.