Special Issue INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND August 2016 CULTURAL STUDIES ISSN 2356-5926
The effect of assertiveness skills training on reduction of verbal victimization of high school students
Elham Gahanger Boket1, Mansoureh Bahrami 2, Lila Kolyaie 3, Seyed Adnan Hosseini4
1Counseling(MA), Azazd University, Roudehen Brench, Iran. 2Phd student of Educational Psychology, Tabriz University, Iran. 3Phd student of Educational Psychology, Tabriz University, Iran. 4Phd student of Educational Psychology, Tabriz University, Iran. Invited Professor in Farhangian University of Sanandaj. (Corresponding Author). [email protected].
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of assertiveness skills(AS) training on reduction of verbal victimization of Tabriz high school female students in iran (Academic year of 2015-16). Thus, 50 students (25 experimental, 25 control) were selected using random clustering sampling. This study was a quasi-experimental design with pretest, posttest and control group. Data was collected using Iranian form of bullying victimization scale. In an AS training program, experimental group attended at eight 90-min sessions (one session per week), but control group never attended at any session. Data was examined using ANCOVA in SPSS. The results showed that there was a significant differences between pretest and posttest in experimental group. The findings were suggested that an AS training program decreased students’ verbal victimization as an effective intervention.
Keywords: assertiveness skills training, bullying, verbal victimization.
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Introduction
Schools are a place of learning and growth for most youth. However, they may also be a place for victimization from school violence and bullying (0lsen et al.,2014) .School bullying and peer victimization are major social problems affecting children and adolescents in all parts of the world. The serious consequences of bullying and peer victimization have generated considerable amount of attention from the public, as well as educators, school officials, and researchers in recent years (Phillips, 2007). Olweus (1993) has defined bullying in general sense as an aggression action that occurs many a time and includes an unequal physical power between bully and victim (Kowalski & Limber, 2013). Also Peer victimization has been defined as single or repeated episodes of peer-perpetrated aggression that results in real or perceived harm to others(Finkelhor, D., Turner, H. A., & Hamby, S. (2012). According to bullying definitions, bulling behavior has five important characteristics: 1. It is an aggressive action; 2.It isn’t generally pre-motivated; 3. It takes many a time place; 4. It includes an unequal power between bully and victim; 5. It happens in small social groups that their members are familiar with each other(Hulsey, 2008). bullying behavior includes wide expanse destructive behaviors that systematically cause to be in different shapes victimized individuals in a wide time that verbal victimization (VV) is one of the most important forms of that. VV is the most common shapes of victimization and as a result of verbal attacks by bully using to insult, despise, scare, threatening to cause harm, name-calling victim (Eliot et al., 2010). the main purpose of bullies for verbal bullying (VB) is to damage at peers’ self-esteem. VV is observed through its outcomes as one of the direct bullying ways. Research (Rigby, 2007; Card et al., 2008) have shown that boys in comparison with girls are more involved in direct forms of bullying especially VB, and this indicates the vitality of investigation of VV in male students in schools. In Iran, also Mohammadkhani (2002, cited by Cheraghi & Pishkan, 2011) have reported that boys are often bully and victimized physically and verbally. Victims are individuals who are repetitiously victimized by others, and they are known through characteristics, such as introversion, weakness, emotionality, shame, caution, unsafety, and higher level of anxiety (Felipe et al., 2011; Spelage & Holt, 2013). Majority of victims are physically weaker than bully, and have less power in order to defend and take care of themselves physically and verbally. Hence, They are often aimed at bullies’ aggression with no reason (Turner, Fenkelhor & Emrood, 2010). Victims have typically a negative and defective insight about themselves, weak social skills, less power than their peers and failure in emotional expression. They have negative attitude toward themselves and their status. They are loneliness, aren’t a member of social networks, or have restricted relations with others. In addition, they have supporting parents. This parenting style have likely a role in victimization, because parents haven’t already been trained them how to encounter difficulties and tolerances (Felipe et al., 2011). These defects probably augment victims exposed to bully, and exacerbate their difficulties. Victims may become isolated and distressed. They have low self-esteem and self-confidence (Dukes, Stein & Zane, 2009), more negative self-efficacy and attitude, and miss their braveness and power defense. If victim students aren’t supported and treated for a long time, they’ll have in physical health problems, such as neurological and digestive diseases, sleep disorders, headaches and muscle tension, educational and academic difficulties, such as escaping and refusing to go to school(Kowalski & Limber, 2013), psychological difficulties, like severe depression (Roth, Coles & Heimberg, 2002), mental health disorder (Trofi & Farrington, 2008), and spread of
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suicide thoughts and even the possibility of suicide attempts (Espelage & Holt, 2013). Due to the such undesirable outcomes of victimization, it is necessary to apply and implement the appropriate instructional and interceptive programs in order to help victims strengthening their power facing the bullying behaviors, and diminishing victimization. One of these effective programs might be Assertiveness skills training because as mentioned the victims mostly suffer from low self-efficacy and self-esteem, the feelings of helplessness and inability and this causes them to have little or no courage and Assertiveness to defend themselves in interpersonal encounters. While the instructional program of AS training can improve victims’ knowledge, beliefs, self-esteem, self-efficacy and assertiveness in a way that they are able to change their negative attitudes and make more dignified interpersonal relationships (Landazabal, 2001). In fact, assertiveness is a skill and power in IC. It means the defense of rights, the expression of thoughts and feelings directly and truly (Kisak, Wisely and Park, 1999; cited by Kupran et al., 2009), and the focus on how to face IC difficulties in routine life (Lane et al, 2004). Wolpe (1969) suggested AS training programs as a treatment approach devoted to individuals who suffer from IC and are tired of problems arising from these situations. AS training programs are conducted to improve assertive beliefs and behaviors so that they have better self-image, make self-confidence, and express their feelings and thoughts and at last, they don’t let others violate their privacy and misuse them(Harji, Sanders & Dixon, 2004). On the contrary, the absence of assertiveness and decisiveness in IC makes victims mainly show neutral and passive behaviors, tolerate more concerning and anxiety and gradual lygets to this idea that they cannot defend themselves facing others’ misuse (Elkhchi et at., 2011), and may eventually become the victim in these situations (Deltsidou, 2009). So it seems that in bullying which is an interpersonal social situation if a victims reaches the sufficient level of courage and Assertiveness and his belief in competence and self-esteem improve, he will have an improved power to deal with bullies behaviors . In supporting this notion, Folotun (1997) has stated that assertiveness is a means to promote an individual’s power in stressful social situations, such as bullying. AS training program have an appropriate experimental support in promoting mental health, improving interpersonal skills, and many studies have reported the effect of AS training programs, including the increase of social adjustment and skills (Barton-Arwood et al., 2005), social support, adolescents’ competence in conflict situations with peers (Korem et al., 2012), desirable social relations and expansion of satisfactory in social communication (Korsgaard, Robinson & Reimor, 1998), happiness and achievement (Paeezi et al., 2007). However, so far in Iran, little research has been done on the effects of different interventions including AS training on students who have been victims of bullying. Only Moghtadaei et al., (2011) showed that programs based on social skills training have a positive effect on improving students’ behavior who were victims of bullying. On the other hand, According to the the highly destructive effects of bullying behaviors on the victim students, it is very important that we effectively intervene in this process of victimization through conducting measurable and applicable studies among groups involved in bullying, specially the group of victims and carefully assess the outcomes associated with our interventions. In this regard, the present study has sought to respond to the question of whether or not Assertiveness skills training are effective in reducing the amount of verbal victimization of boy students.
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Methodology Population and sample: The statistical population of this study consists of all first high school female students from Tabriz city in the 2015-2016 academic year. The final sample under study was considered 25 persons for each group. To do so, firstly one high school was chosen using cluster random sampling method Among all first high schools in Tabriz city and then all students of this school responded to the scale of bullying victimization. Then 50 of the students who had the highest scores in verbal victimization , were randomly placed in an experimental group (n = 25) and a control group (n = 25).
Research instruments Iranian form of bullying victimization scale. (B.V.S): In present study (B.V.S) was used to collect data in pretest and posttest phases. This scale was made and validated based on Elvis’s (1996) questionnaire and normalized with Iranian cultural situation. It consists of 26 items that evaluates physical, verbal and emotional victimization at a 6 degree Likert scale. Scoring is directly conducted and people, who obtain more than 49.5, are identified as victim. The coefficients obtained for all test is r = 0.98 and for VV area is r = 0.99 that indicates high reliability of this scale. Its validity was assessed using construct validity on the range of 0.75 to 0.90 showing that all items of subscales assessed VV (Moradi, 2009).
Procedure: The aim of the study was AS training. For this purpose, victim students’ scores were collected and calculated using the scale of (B.V.S). then, 50 students were chosen based on the highest scores they gained, and were randomly placed in an experimental group and a control group. Experimental group attended eight 90-min sessions for two months (one session per a week) under AS training for the purpose of examining its effect on decreasing VV while control group never attended any session. After lasting sessions, posttest was conducted by (B.V.S) scale on both groups. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), and inferential statistics (ANCOVA) with SPSS 19.
Sessions of AS training : The AS training sessions were arranged and edited by Mohammadkhani (2004) based on Instructional Package so-called “students’ assertiveness skills” on the recommendation of the Theoretical and Practical Skills Training Assistance of Education Ministry, and the package of " Group Assertiveness Training " (Printz,2003)
Table1. Summary of intervention sessions of AS trining Sessions Content session 1 To create proper treatment and emotional relations with participants, organize 5- people groups to do group activities, as necessary, provide two short stories on situations requiring assertive behaviors, provide a definition of assertiveness concept, state the assertive individuals’ main characteristics, state the different outcomes of lack of assertiveness, need for main assertiveness skills and be trainable of assertiveness. session 2 To train and debate about seven main components of assertiveness in groups, train fundamental principles of assertiveness, train and debate about individuals’ rights and responsibilities in IC. session 3 To arrange main IC styles (passive, aggressive, and assertive), debate about passive and aggressive communication styles, passive and aggressive
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individuals’ main characteristics, communication message of each style, passive and aggressive individuals’ essential goal from doing passive and aggressive behaviors, underlying reasons, outcomes and consequences of these behaviors. session 4 To train assertive communication style, train the assertive individuals’ eight main characteristics, communication message of assertive behaviors, essential goals of IC style, debate about group of participants, outcomes and consequences of assertive behaviors, yield two examples from IC situations and responses to these situations through assertive communication style. session 5 Providing the main classification of assertiveness skills to verbal skills (such as speech rate, volume, tone of voice, words, eye contact, facial expressions and physical distance) and nonverbal skills (such as commenting, expressing feelings and request). expression the importance of non-verbal skills in the communications, training Each of these skills and practice each of these skills with subjects. session 6 To reflect the importance of verbal skills, present the examples of situations needed to use these skills, train the five typical steps to reflect demands and feelings, offer the examples of actual interpersonal situations, exercise to state assertively demands and feelings with participants. session 7 To present a four-step model of assertive behavior, exercise these steps with participants, offer the situations of life needed to do assertive behaviors, exercise this model as a role playing by participants through replacement of roles. session 8 To present special assertive techniques, including decisively rejection, fallen- line surface method, disarm method, exercise practically these methods with participants, offer the situations in where assertive behaviors aren’t appropriate or may be dangerous, debate about what they have learned in groups during sessions and changes in which they observe in them, propose a collection, and conclude the arranged sessions on assertiveness skills. Results
Table 2. Mean and standard deviation of verbal victims of bullying
Groups Stage N Mean Std. deviation 25 Pre-test 22/88 1/81
Experimental Post-test 25 11/52 1/41 Follow 25 11/56 1/35 up 25 Pre-test 22/20 2
Control Post-test 25 21/64 1/753 Follow 25 21/48 2/18 up
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Table 2 showed the mean and standard deviation of both experimental and control groups in pretest, posttest and follow-up phases in verbal victims of bullying. Based on data, mean of experimental group has indicated a decrease so that decrease in follow-up has been relatively consistent. While experimental design of pretest and posttest with control was used to examine hypotheses, ANCOVA was applied to assess results in order to control the effects of pretests as a covariate. First, variance consistency was analyzed as one of main assumption of ANCOVA. homogeneity assumption of variances was studied by Levene test for examining variance consistency.
Table 3. Levene test to examine variance consistency in verbal victims of bullying Sig Between-group df Within-group df F 0.236 1 36 1.45 As Table 3 shown, the variance error of groups was homogeneous and equal, because F wasn’t significant at the level of p<0.05. Therefore, the assumption of variances homogeneity has been verified. Table 4. ANCOVA for the effect of AS training on reduction of VV Sum of df Square F sig Eta power squares mean square Constant 61.631 1 61.631 24.423 0.000** 0.342 0.99 Pretest 3.398 1 3.398 1.347 0.252** 0.028 0.206 Group 1262.505 1 1262.505 500.309 0.000** 0.914 Error 118.602 47 2.523 total 15147 50 **p<0.05 Table 4 showed that F was significant at the level of p<0.05 considering the pretest scores as a covariate. As a result, AS training has created a significant difference between experimental and control groups. The effect size has been almost 91%, that is, 91% of posttest variance was concerning training interventions. Based on findings, it is said that there was a significant relationship between the corrected mean of experimental and control groups, F=500.309, df=1, and confidence coefficient of 0.95. Statistical power was 1indicating the competence of sample volume. The implication is that AS training interventions has effectively lessened students’ verbal victimization.
Table 5. ANCOVA for the effect of AS training on reduction of VV in follow-up phase Sum of df Square F sig Eta power squares mean square Constant 41.784 1 41.784 13.255 0.000** 0.22 0.946 Pretest 10.236 1 10.236 3.247 0.078** 0.065 0.423 Group 123.052 1 123.052 390.34 0.000** 0.893 1 Error 148.164 47 3.152 total 15034 50 **p<0.05 According to Table 5, F was significant at the level of p<0.05 in follow-up phase. As a result, the effect of AS training has continued after three months.
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Conclusions and discussions The aim of this study was to examine the effect of AS training on reduction of students’ verbal victimization. The results showed that this appliance has affected on decreasing VV as an effective intervention approach. While no evidence has been verifying the effect of AS training on diminishing students’ verbal victimization, the findings of the present study were consistent with other research, for instance, Moghtadaei et al. (2011) that showed social skills-based training program has a positive effect on improving the behavior of students who are victims of bullying. Also the results of this study are consistent with researches that have shown Assertivenes skills training increases students’ courage, enhances the adolescents’ competence in case of conflicts with peers (Koem et al, 2005), reduces conflicts in interpersonal situations and expands satisfactory social communication (Korsgaard, Roberson, Rymph, 1998). In this manner, this study was consistent with Schery and White (2013), showing that the absence of assertiveness had a signification relationship with sexual girl victimization. The effectiveness of AS training on decreasing verbal victimization can be explained in this order that AS approach could improve individuals’ knowledge, beliefs, self-esteem, self-efficacy and assertiveness Such that They have been able to change their negative attitudes and create respectful communication with others (Landazabal, 2001). No doubt, individuals who have a high assertiveness can abundantly lessen their conflicts and struggles in interpersonal situations and underlying stressful sources (Pourjalali & Zarnaghash, 2010). Wolpe (1969) also has stated that AS training is appropriate as a treatment approach for people who have difficulties in interpersonal situations. Bullying phenomenon can be one of these problematic interpersonal situations. During bullying process, victims’ social communication level lacks, and they’ll become isolated if it repeats continuously. For this purpose, AS training causes to repeatedly create the effective IC and enhance the adjustable and proper social behaviors. As Folton (1997) stated, assertiveness is one tool that can be used to counteract stressful situations, such as bullying. It’ll augment personal power in this circumstance. Studies have continuously demonstrated that assertiveness training can enhance adolescents’ social communication (Eskin, 2003; cited by Korem, Horenczyk & Tatar, 2012). A person, who is assertive, can develop close communications with others, release him/her from others’ misuse whereas an individual who lacks decisiveness, believes that he/she cannot deal with others’ misuse (Ilkhchi et al., 2011). Assertiveness training actually enables an individual to dispatch an assertive message, reflecting that nobody is despise and abject; and nobody should be teased, suppressed humiliated or ridiculed (Talbot et al., 2012). So In bullying phenomenon, victim students , by learning Assertiveness skills, found the ability to deliver such a precise message to the bullies; and they can extremely impede bullies’ repeated bullying behaviors. In recent study, also the interceptive effect of AS training on experimental group could significantly and abundantly reduce the students’ verbal victimization. In general, AS training as an effective way of intervention could diminish VV in the high school boy students. Similar studies are one of the factors that can help the researchers to compare their results. However, as this study is new so the lacking of sufficient background for this comparison is one of it's limitations. Also, the sample limitation to secondary high school boy students, which cannot be generalized to girls and other grades can be another limitation of this study. As a research proposal, AS training is also utilize on a larger study groups and in single subject Designs. Considering the current study and the literature, which shows the strong scientific and experimental background in Assertiveness skills, this program is suggested to be used as
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a part of in-service training of school counselors and other school staff for improving cognitive, emotional and behavioral abilities of victim students of bullying.
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