How More Targeted Effective Intervention Could Prevent Bullying In High School And Colleges

Recently I came across an article which asked the question ‘Can more effective intervention to prevent bullying help to reduce long-term health and social costs for individuals and society? and that got me thinking. Are we targeting the help and intervention in the right areas.

Findings of a research study by researchers from the Commonwealth Early Intervention Services in Melbourne, Australia show that bullying is more likely to occur after a crisis or emergency involving death or major injury.

“The findings of the study show that people who experience a crisis involving death or injury are more likely to experience bullying within a six month period. This finding is important as it is likely that the intervention targeted at the vulnerable adolescent is having an impact on the perpetrator,” according to the paper, published in The Journal of School Health.

The researchers studied data on 1,814 adolescents (aged 13-17 years) who were receiving services funded by Victoria’s Health Services Executive (HSE) at one point during 2003. From June to December 2003, 130 participants who had experienced a death or a serious injury and were being followed-up were identified. Of these youths, 119 met the eligibility criteria for the study and were followed-up.

The study found that the victims of interpersonal bullying were more likely to experience further interpersonal bullying in the next year compared to youths who were not previous victims of interpersonal bullying. The results also indicated that youths were victims of bullying who were involved in a crisis involving death or personal injury were more likely to be bullied in the next month than either of the other two sub-groups. The results indicated that victims that are not involved in a crisis involving death or personal injury were less likely to be bullies in the next month compared to youths not involved in a crisis involving death or injury. The finding of the study was broadly consistent with findings of several earlier studies.

The findings of the study have important implications for intervention efforts for victims of interpersonal bullying,” according to the paper. “The findings suggest that targeted efforts at victims of interpersonal bullying are effective when they aim at raising awareness about the serious problem, and when they focus on intervening with youths who bully in the context of a crisis or emergency.”

The researchers believe that targeted efforts at victims of bullying are effective when they aim at raising awareness about the serious problem, and when they focus on intervening with youths who bully in the context of a crisis or emergency.” The results of the studies indicate that the intervention that targets the victim and focuses on intervening with the youth who bullies the victim is more effective at a time when there is a crisis involving death or injury.

The intervention that targets the peer group of victims and focuses on intervening with those youths who bully the victim is more effective than intervention in which the focus is on the main perpetrator, according to the study findings.

These findings suggest that it is critical to engage the peer group in order to prevent bullying, but that targeting the peer group alone may be insufficient.

The researchers believe that focusing on the peer group is a critical element in preventing bullying in high school and college settings.

The studies of this study indicate that the most effective intervention strategies target the peer group, including intervening with peer perpetrators and bystanders, than the intervention in which the focus is on the perpetrator.

The results for this research indicate that targeting the peer group rather than focusing on the perpetrator is more effective than previous interventions. Targeting victims of interpersonal bullying by engaging the peer group is more effective than intervening with perpetrators, according to the study.

“When assessing the effectiveness of interventions, it is critically important to recognise whether the focus is on the perpetrator, on bystanders, or on victims. In terms of targeting the peer group, there is considerable consensus that intervention strategies which engage the peer group are more effective than those which focus on perpetrators, and focus on victims.”, according to the study.

This is good news as those who bully will try to isolate, insult and be aggressive towards victims and not accept the truth that they themselves might have done wrong and behave in an unkind way so as not to be targeted and targeted.