RUNNING HEAD: Bullying Prevention

Bullying Prevention
SW 3810
04/12/14
Jerlyn Bright-Thigpen

RUNNING HEAD: Bullying Prevention

A. Statement of Problem
The social problem I chose is bullying in school. This is a severe problem because it is
happening every day. There are many types of bullying (cyber, school, gender and etc.).
According to Bullying Statistics, at 10 percent of children are bullied regularly (Child
Bullying, 2013). This can cause the victim to have social and behavioral problems as they
grow up in life. If this problem is not solved or intervened, the vicious cycle of bullying
would keep going. According to Ron Banks, direct bullying seems to increase through the
elementary years, peak in the middle school/junior high school years and decline the high
school years (Banks, 2013).
Working in a school setting is one of my areas of interest. Bullying is most prevalent in
schools. I have seen a child in school been bullied. For example, I overheard a child tell
another child that she was not allowed to be in her group of friends because she was not
pretty enough. The childs reaction was sad and she isolated herself from everyone after the
other child made that statement to her.
The practice question would be what program can prevent bullying occurring in schools.
Implementing an evidence based practice research or study that can help eliminate the act of
bullying. Without this problem being resolved, this can cause a major impact on both the
bully and the victim life. The bully would feel like it is ok to bully anyone without any
consequence or someone telling that bullying is wrong and should not happen. As for the
victim, they would not know how to stand up for themselves if there is no intervention or a
program to show ways how to stand up for themselves and not become a victim to bullying.
B. Research Design

RUNNING HEAD: Bullying Prevention

An experimental group was used in the study. It was called a group randomized trial. One
threat to the study that was controlled was history. In this study, the group was only
studied for two years. It was specified how long the subjects were being bullied and how
the program will help them to prevent bullying from occurring in the schools. The
selection bias threat was controlled also. The schools that were selected only came from
urban areas. This was biased because the researchers did not look into finding schools in
suburban areas where bullying can happen also. I believe that testing was also controlled.
There was a specific survey to determine how and what way the subject was being
bullied and how often they were bullied. Instrumentation changed was not controlled.
Both the independent and dependent variables remained the same for the two year course
that the study was going on. Maturation was not controlled. The subjects were fourth
graders and there was no change to that. External validity was controlled. The
generalization of this study was enough because of the particular criteria that they used to
select the schools that were in similarity with each other and the same survey for the
students to answer.
C. Sampling
The sample was selected by the school district. The schools were based on the criteria of
expulsion, suspension rates and the percentage of the students who were eligible for the
free lunch programs. The sampling frame was fourth grade classrooms of 40 urban
elementary schools. One advantage was the researchers got the schools to participate in
the study. The sample size seemed to be easy and manageable for it to be measure for
results. A disadvantage was the criteria of the schools being selected. The criteria seemed
to be negative. Researchers were focused on the suspension and expulsion rates. Only
solely using the urban area as if it that the only area that could have been included in this

RUNNING HEAD: Bullying Prevention

social problem. Using the eligibility for the free lunch program should not have been
used to find a school that was needed for study. Random assignment was a disadvantage.
The subjects did not know where they were being assigned to either the control group or
the experimental group. The only similarity from this is the school setting. As for using
elementary schools, I would prefer in using high school students as subjects. Focusing on
different school areas and using a different criteria would be something that would be
incorporated in my desired study.
D. Measurement
One variable of the study was the bully victimization. It was measured by the Olweus
bully/victim scale. The scale consist of the numbers from 1 through 5 with 5 being the
most times that they were bullied. The scale for the bully victimization was calculated
from the sum of the items then divided by the number of the unanswered statements on
the questionnaire. Another variable was the bullying behavior. This was also measured by
the Olweus scale. This scale consist of the numbers 1 through 5, with 5 being the most
time that the person had bullied someone at school. I believe that findings were be
different the variables were defined better in the research. In the research, the variables
were vague. I do not think that the measurement reliability is valid. This is so because it
was known that some of the statements were not answered and that could cause the data
not to be valid enough to get the correct results needed to get a good intervention
program feedback.
E. Data Collections
Surveys were the source of the data being collected for the study. The surveys were based
of the bully scale created by Olweus Bully/Victim questionnaire. It was given in the
spring and fall semesters of each school year. The statements were read aloud by a trained
professional of the study. One advantage of the data collected was the statements being

RUNNING HEAD: Bullying Prevention

read aloud for the students to understand each statement on the survey. Falsely answering
the statements could be a disadvantage and cause the data collection for the results faulty.
Another disadvantage could be that the students may not feel comfortable answering
certain statements and could be skip that particular statement. By having the trained
professional could be a disadvantage because the student may feel compelled to answer
each statement that is being read to them. The results would not have differed if there was
another way of getting the data.
F. Ethics and Cultural Considerations
The intervention could be effective if it was more age appropriate for my target
population. My target population is high school students. The students in this article was
in fourth graders. If the program try to implement teens into their program, this is could
eliminate the bullying that occurs in high school.
I believe that the activities and processes are sensitive to the cultural characteristics of my
target population. For my population, I would include all races and consider gender into
the intervention process. As for this study, the researchers included all races and gender
as the factors when it came to who was being bullied and the bully.
The researchers made sure that the parents of the students were given consent forms.
They also informed how the information was going to be used. The parents had the
choice if they would want their child to participate in the program. The only ethical issue
I had a problem with was the choice of the researchers using schools in urban areas
instead of looking into suburban area schools also. The researchers should have included
suburban elementary school into this intervention program.
G. Results and Implications
It addresses the practice by giving ways how to prevent bullying in the school. Ways such
as talking about bullying, prevent bullying from happening to them, being a good friend
and how to stand up for oneself. The theory was based on this program is the social

RUNNING HEAD: Bullying Prevention

development model. This model includes four factors: bonding, belief in the shared
values or norms of the social units, external constraints, and skills (social, cognitive, and
emotional).
I believe that I would need to have more experience in working with groups. Also, getting
help from the teachers and the principal to help implement this program into the school.
Being more aware of how research in social work works so that I could be fully
competent in having this program in the school to help the students to prevent bullying.
One challenge would be to get the students to comply with the program. With them being
in high school, they would not be willing to change how they feel and how to deal with
the alleged bully or not to bully another student. Getting the teachers and the principal
may be a challenge due to the fact that they have their own work load and trying to add
this program with their help probably would not be feasible. Also a cultural barrier could
make this program not work. In some cultures, they would not be willing to discuss what
is going on with them if they are being bullied or are the bully. A language barrier could
make the implementation of the program infeasible. There is a possibility that some of the
students who does not speak English as their first language. So there would be an
interpreter for the students who do not speak the language. The last challenge would be
making this program feasible for a high school population.