Understanding School Social Workers' Roles in Bullying Prevention And
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St. Catherine University SOPHIA Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers School of Social Work 5-2016 Understanding School Social Workers’ Roles in Bullying Prevention and Intervention Jessica Staples St. Catherine University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Staples, Jessica. (2016). Understanding School Social Workers’ Roles in Bullying Prevention and Intervention. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/693 This Clinical research paper is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Work at SOPHIA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers by an authorized administrator of SOPHIA. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Head: BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION Understanding School Social Workers’ Roles in Bullying Prevention and Intervention by Jessica L. Staples, B.S. MSW Clinical Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of the School of Social Work St. Catherine University and the University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work Committee Members Lance Peterson, Ph.D., LICSW (Chair) Nancy Harold, MSW, LICSW Jennifer Kreitz, MSW, LICSW The Clinical Research Project is a graduation requirement for MSW students at St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work in St. Paul, Minnesota and is conducted within a nine-month time frame to demonstrate facility with basic social research methods. Students must independently conceptualize a research problem, formulate a research design that is approved by a research committee and the university Institutional Review Board, implement the project, and publicly present the findings of the study. This project is neither a Master’s thesis nor a dissertation. BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION 2 Abstract The primary purpose for this research was to gain a better understanding how school social workers are assisting in bullying prevention and intervention efforts at schools. Semi-structured interviews were done with three school social workers and three school administrators from school districts around the Twin City metropolitan area, in Minnesota. Interview questions were asked regarding: understanding of roles, consideration of school bullying prevention programs, exploring opinions about bullying prevention policies, understandings of laws and policies, talking through the successes and lack of success of the current bullying program in the school and lastly, exploring roles in policy making. Findings from this study were analyzed, coded and were compared and contrasted with the literature review. Three themes appeared throughout the interviews: use of curriculum, reporting and policy, and bullying vs. conflict. The results are stated in length, followed by a discussion and the implications of the study. It is important that school social workers continue to evaluate their own bullying curriculum within their school, looking at the school’s climate, positive relationships with students and staff, and how they may be able to utilize the key principles towards fighting bullying within their school, as well as using a curriculum that makes sense. Special attention should also be placed on diversity and age appropriateness of what is being given to the students. Keywords: bullying, cyberbullying, mental health, disabilities, school social work, school administration, parental involvement, policies, bullying prevention programs BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION 3 Acknowledgements First of all I want to thank Dr. Lance Peterson, my chair, for his availability, understanding and overall support of my research project. There were times that I would get hung-up on things and he would always be there to respond to an email or be available for a quick supportive chat. I would also like to thank my committee members, Nancy and Jennifer. You both brought your positive energy, encouragement and knowledge into this process with me. Your motivation kept me going and excited to continue on this journey. Next, a very special thank you to those individuals who participated in my research. You took time out of your day allowing me into your world and for that I am so appreciative. Each of you brought a piece to this research and made it very unique and exceptional. Lastly, a very huge thank you to my family and friends. My parents for being available at a moment’s notice to watch my children. My mom for being that person with such empathy and understanding. My children, Madison and Tyler, for inspiring me and allowing me to take the time that I would have spent with them, to pursue my dream. Becky, for being on the same page as me ALWAYS and getting what I was going through. You were really my rock through this entire process. Lindsay for always having something positive and motivational to say. And lastly, but certainly not least, my fiancé Jon, the one who I always relied on and the guy who would do whatever it took to get me into my office to work on my paper. BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION 4 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………2 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..3 Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….4 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………….9 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………………………..25 Methods…………………………………………………………………………………………..27 Findings………………………………………………………………………………………….31 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..44 References………………………………………………………………………………………..54 Appendices A. Bullying Definitions………………………………………………………………….60 B. Email Request - School Administrators……………………………………………...61 C. Email Request - School Social Workers……………………………………………..62 D. Follow-up Email - School Administrators…………………………………………...63 E. Follow-up Email - School Social Workers ………………………………………….64 F. Informed Consent Form……………………………………………………………...65 G. Interview Questions - School Administrators………………………………………..67 H. Interview Questions - School Social Workers……………………………………….69 BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION 5 Understanding School Social Workers’ Roles in Bullying Prevention and Intervention The U.S. Department of Education’s School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey reported that during the course of the 2009-2010 school year, 23% of the students reported being bullied either daily or weekly, and of the 12-18 year old age group, 28% reported being bullied at some time throughout the school year (Robers, Kemp & Truman, 2013). Bullying can be found in schools throughout the spectrum: elementary, secondary, colleges, universities, public, private, alternative or religious schools; no matter what school you look at you will run into various forms of bullying (Avi Astor, Benbenishty, & Nunez Estrada, 2009). Bullying is also brought on for a variety of different reasons; social status, racial tensions or sexual identification are some examples (Klein, 2012; O'Malley Olsen, Kann, Vivolo-Kantor, Kinchen, & McManus, 2014). Large scale incidents of school bullying can impact schools and their students especially when they include things such as cyberbullying, suicides and school shootings (Kalish & Kimmel, 2010; Rice et al., 2015). Dramatic school shootings seem to be a norm in the United States and are continuing to bring attention to the violence relating to bullying within schools. The 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado, in which two students brought a large amount of ammunition and weapons into their school and opened fire on students and staff throughout the building, before turning the guns on themselves, often serves as a benchmark, in terms of school bullying. This rampage left twelve students and teachers murdered and wounded twenty-one others. The shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made statements to students and even made a video the night before the shooting took place. Their quotes: ‘People constantly make fun of my face, my hair, my shirts’ ‘I’m going to kill you all. You’ve been giving us shit for years’ and BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION 6 ‘This is for all the shit you put us through. This is what you deserve’ bring their bullying to light. Other shootings within the last decade have included a student, Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech. Cho shot two students in a dorm room and then within hours went through an engineering building, shooting staff and students. Once finished he had killed 32 people, injured 17 and then took his own life (Kalish & Kimmel, 2010). And in 2001 a female student, attending a Catholic school in Pennsylvania, who was only 14 years old, shot a fellow classmate during lunch hour, in the school’s cafeteria (Wike & Fraser, 2009). The media has also helped to sensationalize these incidents as they highlight these stories and pull the public’s attention to this topic. Many feel the impact of these stories on our country and our communities, with those most concerned and impacted being students, parents and anyone working within a school setting. Schools should be a safe haven and anyone setting foot inside of a school should feel and be safe (Robers & Truman, 2013). These are just a few examples of how bullying can become very serious and why school social workers can play a key part in its prevention. Victims