Understanding and preventing school bullying in depth: Research for Clarian Health of Indiana

In response to Clarian Health of Indiana's need for knowledge on school bullying and prevention, research was conducted to 1.) define bullying, types of bullying, and spectrum of involvement 2.) recognize the impact of bullying on communities 3.) analyze bullying prevention programs and 4.) help create a bullying pilot survey aimed at measuring prevalence of bullying within Indiana schools. First, a literature review was conducted to gain knowledge on the topic of bullying. Also, this was used to find other successful bullying surveys to aid in the development of Clarian's survey. Secondly, key informant interviews were conducted through public schools, anti-violence organizations, and government agencies to assess qualitative opinions on bullying. Also, the survey was piloted here to gain feedback for review. Bullying is classified as an aggressive behavior causing physical and/or mental distress, occurring repeatedly, and an imbalance of power/strength in a relationship. Types include verbal/emotional/physical/sexual abuse, isolation, humiliation, and cyber bullying. Those involved in bullying can be categorized into four groups including pure bullies, pure victims, bully-victims, and the uninvolved. Bullies have higher crime convictions and serve more prison time as adults than non-bullies. Yet, common psychological issues affect both bullies and victims such as low self-esteem, depression, and increased suicidal ideation. Research shows that multidisciplinary, “whole-school” interventions are proven more effective than curriculum-based approaches in schools. An example of this is the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Survey feedback included suggestions to widen its borders by including questions involving special-interest groups like gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender bullying and special education bullying.