The Role of Peer Support in Helping the Victims of Bullying in a School with High Levels of Aggression

Abstract

This study examines the impact of a peer support service as an intervention to counteract bullying in a school with a serious problem. The impact of the intervention was assessed by a survey and by qualitative interviews with staff, peer supporters, users and potential users of the service. The survey indicated that the intervention had no overall effect on levels of bullying in the school as a whole or on the likelihood that peers would intervene to help. However, the interviews indicated that peer helpers and some victims were helped by the initiative, and some potential users of the service perceived it in a positive light. Some explanations of the findings and implications for implementation of such interventions are discussed.

Peer Support as a Mediator between Bullying Victimization and Depression

“…To date, after realizing the advantage of peer support in inhibiting the negative effects of bullying behaviors, many schools try to implement intervention programs based on the peer support to maintain or improve student's emotional health or wellbeing, especially for the bullied victims (Cowie, 2014). These programs emphasize that pupils themselves also have the potential to assume a helpful role in cracking down the detrimental effects on bullying (Cowie & Olafsson, 2000;Peterson & Rigby, 1999). For example, some secondary schools in the United State offered peer mentors who worked as mediators to resolve interpersonal conflicts among students through a structured process.…”

Ayuda entre Iguales en las escuelas: desarrollo y retos

“…En cuanto al estatus, mientras la mayoría de los ayudantes se sienten respetados y valorados, en algunos casos pueden sentir el rechazo o aislamiento de una minoría (Cowie y Olafsson, 2000;Naylor y Cowie, 1999), o pueden encontrar alguna burla sobre su figura de ayudante. Esto es más probable que suceda en escuelas donde el programa de ayuda entre iguales no está arraigado en la cultura del centro, así como en educación secundaria, donde los niños tienden a tener actitudes menos positivas hacia estos programas.…”

The Perception of School Climate in two Secondary Schools during the Implementation of a Peer Support Program

“…Nevertheless, because of the variety of assessment methods, it is difficult to make comparisons and, consequently, there are results that lead to conflicting conclusions about the factors that improve school climate. However, there is strong evidence that peer support improves the school climate, even though in the early stages of implementation, results can show an increase in conflicts (Del Barrio, Barrios, Granizo, Van der Meulen, Andrés & Gutiérrez, 2011;Cowie, 1998;Cowie, Naylor, Tallamelli, Chauhan & Smith, 2002;Cowie & Olafsson, 2000;Cowie & Wallace, 2000;Houlston, Smith & Jessel, 2009;Mental Health Foundation, 2002;Naylor & Cowie, 1999;Naylor, Cowie & Del Rey, 2001;Ortega, Del Rey & Mora-Merchán, 2004;Smith, 2003;Smith, Pepler & Rigby, 2004;Smith & Watson, 2004). More precisely, in studies that have used control groups, results to date have not been homogeneous and have not revealed differences in evolution, in specific cases, between experimental and control schools (Svensson, 2003).…”