The social and emotional effects of bullying on learners in learning institutions in South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v13i5.3484Keywords:
Bullying, effects, emotional, learning, social, social workers.Abstract
Bullying is a significant concern for learners in South African educational institutions, and it requires immediate attention and intervention from interested parties, such as social workers. This form of violence is prevalent during the school years and involves aggressive behaviour towards victims. The phenomenon of bullying attracts local and global interest from social scientists, who use it as a term to describe its social and emotional effects. The concept is associated with mental health problems, a decline in school performance, school dropout, contemplation of suicide, suicide, and other complex social problems. Social workers are well-versed in the concept of bullying due to their involvement with the issue. The study utilized qualitative research, employing purposive sampling, and thematic analysis to analyze data from a sample of 21 social workers linked to schools. The research design employed was exploratory in nature. The study utilized face-to-face, semi-structured interviews as a means of data collection, with an interview guide serving as the instrument. Prior to collecting data, the researcher obtained permission from participants and sought their consent for audio-recording. Ethical considerations, such as informed consent, debriefing, beneficence, confidentiality, and avoiding harm, were closely followed. The study drew on two theoretical frameworks, namely the ecological and strength-based approaches.
Keywork: Bullying, effects, emotional, learning, social, social workers.
Downloads
References
Babbie, E.R. & Mouton, J. (2017). The practice of social research. Oxford University press.
Bezuidenhout, C. (2013). School-based violence: The context and impacts of bullying.
Branch, S., Ramsay, S. & Barker, M. (2013). Workplace bullying, Mobbing and general harassment: A review. International journal of management review, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2012.00339.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2012.00339.x
Cornell., D.G. & Bandyopadhyay., S. (2018). The assessment of bullying. Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective. New York. Routledge.
Coyne, I. & Monk, C.P. (2013). Bullying in different context: commonalities, differences and the role of theory. Aggression and violent behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.01.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.01.004
Cresswell, J.W. (2014). The selection of a research approach. In Cresswell, J.W. research design. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Sage:3.23.
Department of Education. (2014). Republic of South Africa.
Earnshaw, V.A., Reisner, S.L., & Juvonen. (2017). LGBTQ bullying: translating research to action in pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-0432 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-0432
Getz, L. (2013). Workplace bullying in social services: Client care at risk. Social work today, 13(6), 26.
Gini, G., Pozzoli, T., Hymel, S. (2014). Moral disengagement among children and youth: A meta-analytic review of links to aggressive behaviour. Aggressive behaviour, 40, 56-68. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21502 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21502
Global school health survey. (2015).
Harrington-Johnson, M. (2021). Bullying and its complex legal framework. Harrington-Johnson wands attorneys.
Horton, K.B. (2016). Exploring workplace bullying through social work ethics-informed lens. Journal of social work values and ethics, Vol 13. No:1
James, A. (2017). School bullying. Cruelty to children must stop. Full stop.
Lapan, S.D., quartaroli, M.T. & Riemer, F.J. (2015). Qualitative research: An introduction to methods and designs. San Franscisco: Jossey-Bass.
Masilo, D.T. (2018). Social work intervention to address the phenomenon of bullying amongst learners in the school setting: A literature review. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-1292670e6d DOI: https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38ns1a1594
Masilo, D.T. (2023). Educational social group work practice programme on bullying amongst school learners in South Africa: A literature review. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-genbeh_v21_n2_a12
Matthew, B. & Ross, L. (2018). Research methods. A practical guide for the social sciences. New York. Pearson Longman.
Menesini., E. & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Bullying in schools: The state of knowledge and effective interventions, psychology, health and medicine. Taylor and Francis. Vol 22. No 51. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2017.1279740 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2017.1279740
Moreno, D.R. (2017). The Nuremberg code and informed consent for research. Sage journals. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2667718#:~:text=2018%3B319(1)%3A86.%20doi%3A10.1001/jama.2017.17724 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.17724
National association of social workers. 2015. Code of ethics. National Association of Social Workers (2021). The new standards in School Social work practice. Standards for School Social Work Services Work Group, Washington, DC
Naidu, E. (2019). Motshega reveals 1345 hot spots for school violence. Sunday Independent.
Ngidi, N.D. & Moletsane, R. (2018). Bullying in schools toilets: Experiences of secondary school learners in a South African township. South African Journal of Education, 38, 38(S1):1-8. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-1292630ce8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38ns1a1588
Nthathe, P. (2019). School violence: how can we make the classroom a safe haven? For learning? Daily Maverick. 28 August
Olwells, D. (2013). School bullying: development and some important challenges. Annual review of clinical psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185516 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185516
Pawar, R. (2014). Multilingual cyberbullying detection system. https://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2019.8833846 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2019.8833846
Payne, M. 2014. Modern social work theory. Fourth edition. Manchester. Lyceum books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-40603-3
Picardi, C.A. & Masick, K.D. (2014). Research methods: Designing and conducting research with a real-world focus. Belmont: Sage publications inc.
Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2014). Essentials of nursing research: appraising evidence for nursing practice. 8th edition.
Rodkin, P.C., Espelage, D.L., & Hanish, L.D. (2015). A relational framework for understanding bullying developmental antecedents and outcomes. American Psychologist, 70, 311-321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038658
SABC (2021). https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/vhavenda-king-condemns-bullying-in-schools-following-viral-video/
Sikhakhane, H.N., Muthukrishna, N & Martin, M. 2018. The geographies of bullying in a secondary school context. South African Journal of Education, 38(S1):1-11. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38ns1a1589 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38ns1a1589
Singh, R. (2017). Remembering Nhaveen. Malaysiakini, 21 June. Available at https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/386328. [Accessed 30 July 2019]
Sinokowski, P.R. & Kopasz, K.P. (2015). Bullying in school: An overview of types, effects, family characteristics and intervention strategies. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/27.2.101 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/27.2.101
Smith, K (2016). Social and Personality Psychology Compass 10(9). 519-532. 2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12266. [ Accessed 05 September 2016] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12266
Staples, J.L. (2016). Understanding school social workers’ role in bullying prevention and intervention. St Catherine University.
Swearer., S.M. (2014). What can be done about school bullying? Linking research to educational practice. Educational psychology papers and publications. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X09357622 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X09357622
Terry, A. (2015). The impact of state legislation and model policies on bullying in schools. Journal of School Health. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12610 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12610
Thwala, S.K., Okeke, C.I. & Tshotsho, N. (2018). Adolescent girl’s behavioural characteristics and their vulnerability to bullying in Manzini high schools. South African Journal of Education, 38(S1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38ns1a1604 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38ns1a1604
Toseland, R.W. & Rivas, R.F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice. (8th ed). Boston: Pearson Education.
Wang, K.E., Chen, Y. & Zhang, J. (2019). Indicators of school crime and safety. Institute of education of sciences.
Wolke, D & Lereya, S.T. (2015). Long-term effects of bullying. Archives of disease in childhood, 100, 879-885. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306667 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306667
Xu, J., Junn, K., Zhu, X. & Bellmore, A. (2016). Learning from bullying traces in social media. Association for computational linguistics. Montreal.
Zastrow, C. (2013). Understanding Human Behaviour and the Social Environment. 9th edition. Brooks/Cole. Cengage learning.
Zastrow, C. (2017). Introduction to social work and social welfare: Empowering people. (12th ed). Boston, MA: Centage Learning.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Tumelo Sekgobela, Kgashane Johannes Malesa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
For all articles published in IJRBS, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work, while ensuring that the authors receive proper credit.
