Psychology 4420F-001
Bullying and Victimization
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course involves critical evaluation of research and theory on physical, social, and cyber bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence. We examine physiological, psychological and social risk factors for bullying and victimization, social processes that maintain bully-victim relationships, psychological consequences of victimization, and current prevention and intervention efforts.
Antirequisite: Psychology 4490F if taken in 2008/09, 2010/11 or 2012/13
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E, or both Psychology 2800E and 2810, plus registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology or Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who receive 75% in the prerequisite courses may enrol in this course.
3 seminar hours, 0.5 course
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Lynne Zarbatany
Office and Phone Number: WH 322 519-661-3664
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: lynnez@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Wed, 12:30-3:30, WH 036
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
A course pack of readings for this course is available for purchase at the bookstore.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
The primary purpose of this course is to critically evaluate research and theory on physical, social/relational, and cyber bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence. We will examine social, psychological, and physical factors that predispose children to become bullies and victims, group social processes that help to maintain the bully-victim relationships, and social and psychological consequences of persistent bullying and victimization. We also will assess the success rate of evidenced-based and non-evidence based intervention and prevention strategies being employed to address face-to-face and cyber bullying. Students will practice and refine several scholarly skills, including critical thinking, research design, writing, oral presentation, and scholarly discussion.
5.0 EVALUATION
Class Participation (20%)
Discussion Questions (15%)
First Report (15%)
Research Proposal Presentation (20%)
Research Proposal (30%)
Details about each course requirement are available on the course website.
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
There are no examinations in this course.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Sept. 16 Organizational Meeting (bring your calendar because we will be assigning students to presentation dates today).
Guest Speaker: Corina Morrison, London Anti-Bullying Coalition www.londonabc.ca
Sept. 23 Overview and Definitional Issues
Olweus, D. (2001). Peer harassment: A critical analysis and some important issues. In J.
Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 3-20). New York: Guilford.
NOTE: The section on “Glimpses from the North American Tradition” (pp. 7-10) is now obsolete; no one treats victimization and peer rejection as the same phenomena.
Griffin, R. S., & Gross, A. M. (2004). Childhood bullying: Current empirical findings and future directions for research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 9, 379-400.
Smith, P. K. (2004). Bullying: Recent developments. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 9, 98-103.
Sept. 30 Characteristics of Bullies and Victims
Veenstra, R., Lindenberg, S., Oldehinkel, A. J., De Winter, A. F., Verhulst, F. C., & Ormel, J. (2005). Bullying and victimization in elementary schools: A comparison of bullies, victims, bully/victims and uninvolved preadolescents. Developmental Psychology, 41, 672-682.
Pepler, D., Jiang, D., Craig, W., & Connolly, J. (2008). Developmental trajectories of bullying and associated factors. Child Development, 79, 325-338.
Unresolved Question: Whom do bully-victims bully??
Oct. 7 Causes (?) and Consequences? of Bullying
Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (2001). Parental maltreatment and emotion dysregulation as risk factors for bullying and victimization in middle childhood. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 349-363.
Decety, J., Michalska, K. J., Akitsuki, Y., & Lahey, B. B. (2009). Atypical empathic responses in adolescents with aggressive conduct disorder: A functional MRI investigation. Biological Psychology, 80, 203-211.
Wolke, D., Copeland, W. E., Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2013). Impact of bullying in childhood on adult health, wealth, crime, and social outcomes. Psychological Science, 24, 1958–1970.
Oct. 14 Causes (?) of Victimization
Perry, D. G., Hodges, E. V. E., & Egan, S.K. (2001). Determinants of chronic victimization by peers: A review and new model of family influence. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 73-104). New York: Guilford.
Hanish, L. D., Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Spinrad, T. L., Ryan, P., & Schmidt, S. (2004).
The expression and regulation of emotions: Risk factors for young children’s peer victimization. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 335-353.
Oct. 21 Cyber Bullying
Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2004). Online aggressors/targets, aggressors, and targets: A comparison of associated youth characteristics. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 1308-1316.
Slonje, R., Smith, P. K., & Frisen, A. (2013). The nature of cyberbullying, and strategies for prevention. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 26–32.
Olweus, D. (2012). Cyberbullying: An overrated phenomenon? European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 520–538.
Oct. 28 The Complexity Increases: Child and Environment Perspectives on Bullying and Victimization
Kochenderfer-Ladd, B., Ladd, G. W., & Kochel, K. P. (2008). A child and environment framework for studying risk for peer victimization. In M. J. Harris (Ed.), Bullying, rejection, and peer victimization: A social cognitive neuroscience perspective (pp. 27-52). NY: Springer.
Ball, H. A., Arseneault, A. T., Maughan, B., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2008). Genetic and environmental influences on victims, bullies and bully-victims in childhood. Journal of
Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 104-112.
Sugden, K., Arseneault, L., Harrington, H., Moffitt, T. E., Williams, B., & Caspi, A. (2010).
Serotonin transporter gene moderates the development of emotional problems among children following bullying victimization. Journal of the American Academy of Chld and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 830-840.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Steven Killip, Thames Valley District School Board, Head of Research
Nov. 4 Group Dynamics of Bullying and Victimization
Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 112–120.
Vaillancourt, T., McDougall, P., Hymel, S., & Sunderani, S. (2010). Respect or fear? The relationship between power and bullying behavior. In S. R. Jimerson, S. M. Swearer, & D. L. Espelage (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 211-222). NY: Routledge.
Volk, A. A., Camilleri, J. A., Dane, A. V., & Marini, Z. A. (2012). Is adolescent bullying an evolutionary adaptation? Aggressive Behavior, 38, 222-238
Nov. 11 Bullying, Victimization, and Other Relationships
Wolke, D., & Skew, A. J. (2012). Bullying among siblings. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 24, 17-25.
Troop-Gordon, W. (2015). The role of the classroom teacher in the lives of children victimized by peers. Child Development Perspectives, 9, 55-60.
Foshee, V. A., Reyes, H. L. M., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Basile, K. C., Chang, L.-Y., Faris, R., & Ennett, S. T. (2014). Bullying as a longitudinal predictor of adolescent dating violence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55, 439-444.
Nov. 18 Consequences of Victimization
Nakamoto, J., & Schwartz, D. (2010). Is peer victimization associated with academic achievement? A meta-analytic review. Social Development, 19, 221-242.
Ouellet-Morin, I., Wong, C. C. Y., Danese, A., Pariante, C. M., Papadopoulos, A. S., Mill, J., & Arseneault, L. (2012). Increased serotonin transporter gene (SERT) DNA methylation is associated with bullying victimization and blunted cortisol response to stress in childhood: A longitudinal study of discordant monozygotic twins. Psychological Medicine (pp. 1-11). Epub ahead of print.
Snyder, J., Brooker, M., Patrick, M. R., Snyder, A., Schrepferman, L., & Stoolmiller, M. (2003). Observed peer victimization during early elementary school: Continuity, growth, and relation to risk for child antisocial and depressive behavior. Child Development, 74, 1881-1898.
Guest Speaker: Officer Teresa Allott, London Police
Nov. 25 Intervention [Note: these papers are not in the course pack, but they are available through the course website].
Frey, K. S., Hirschstein, M. K., Edstrom, L. V., & Snell, J. L. (2009). Observed reductions in school bullying, nonbullying aggression, and destructive bystander behavior: A longitudinal evaluation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 466-481.
Kärnä, A., Voeten, M., Little, T. D., Alanen, E., Poskiparta, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2013).
Effectiveness of the KiVa Antibullying Program: Grades 1–3 and 7–9. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105, 535–551.
Dec. 2 Prevention
Howard, K. A., Flora, J., & Griffin, M. (1999). Violence prevention programs in schools:
State of the science and implications for future research. Applied & Preventative Psychology, 8, 197-215.
Craig, W. M., Pepler, D. J., Murphy, A., & McCuaig-Edge, H. (2010). What works in bullying
prevention? In E. M. Vernberg & B. K. Biggs (Eds.), Preventing and treating bullying and victimization (pp. 215-241). NY: Oxford University Press
Dec. 9 Class Presentations
______________________________________________________________________________
Dec. 11 Your final paper must be submitted to Turnitin and emailed to me no later than 9:00 AM on Dec. 11, except for students who present on Dec. 9. The latter group must submit papers no later than 9 AM on Dec. 14.
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
