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.
Antirequisites: 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. 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 of Psychology 2800E and 2810, plus registration in third or fourth year Honors Specialization in Psychology or Honors Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who receive 75% in the prerequisite courses may enroll 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: Dr. Lynne Zarbatany
Office and Phone Number: Westminster Hall (WH) 322, (519) 661-3664
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: lynnez@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Lectures: Wed, 12:30-3:30, WH 36
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. Readings also are available on the course website under the Course Readings tab.
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 bully-victim relationships, and physiological, social and psychological consequences of persistent 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.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, successful students will be able to
- Critically evaluate current research on social and psychological antecedents, processes, and sequelae of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence (assessed by contributions to weekly class discussions, discussion leading, and research proposal).
- Differentiate and evaluate evidence-based and non-evidence-based bullying interventions (assessed by contributions to weekly class discussions).
- Identify limitations on interpretation of findings imposed by research designs and methods (assessed by contributions to weekly class discussions, discussion leading, and research proposal).
- Identify and analyze a conceptual or methodological problem in the field, and propose improvements based on extant research, theory and/or methods (assessed by discussion leading and paper; research proposal presentation and paper).
- Generate a hypothesis that addresses an important knowledge gap in the field of bullying and victimization based on a thorough assessment and synthesis of existing literature. Apply knowledge of research design, methods, and data analysis to design a study to test the hypothesis (assessed by research proposal paper and presentation).
- Orally present prepared material in a formal academic settings using visual aids, and make in-the-moment contributions to scholarly discourse (assessed by participation in class discussion, class discussion leading, and presentation of research proposal).
- Demonstrate courage to use their scholarly voice in a public setting (assessed by participation in class discussion, class discussion leading, and presentation of research proposal).
Write papers demonstrating correct use of the English language and adherence to discipline-specific (APA) writing requirements (assessed by written discussion questions, and research proposal).
5.0 EVALUATION
Class Participation (20%)
Each week we will meet to share our opinions, impressions, and critical evaluations of the readings. To facilitate discussion, class participation will count for 20 percent of your final mark. Your participation mark will be based on attendance, quantity, and (especially) quality of your contributions to the intellectual activity of the class. Your classmates’ discussion question(s) will be circulated at least two days prior to class each week, and you should formulate a response based on your own interpretation of the readings prior to class You also may bring other discussion topics to class each week to ensure you have an opportunity to speak (this is especially important for shy members of the group). After each class, I will give you a score from 0 to 4 using the following scale: 0 = absent, 1 = present but silent, 2 = minimal participation, 3 = moderate participation, 4 = made an important substantive contribution to the scholarly discourse. (I use fractions as well as whole numbers). The two lowest participation marks will be dropped, and the remaining scores averaged to form 20% of your final mark. You may email me at any time for advice about improving your participating mark.
Weekly Quizzes (20%)
You will complete a quiz on the assigned readings for each week, each consisting of approximately10 multiple choice questions. Quizzes will be administered at the beginning of each class. The two lowest quiz marks will be dropped, and the remaining scores averaged to form 20% of your final mark. If you want to review any particular quiz mark, see Dr. Z.
Discussion Questions (15%)
You will prepare one or two (max) discussion questions and lead a 30-min class discussion based on one week’s readings (date to be assigned). You also will submit a 2-3 page (max) double-spaced typed write-up of the questions and your answers to them. Questions should stimulate critical evaluation of KEY theoretical-conceptual and/or empirical issues or problems in the week’s readings. In your paper, you must articulate your question(s), justify their importance, and offer thoughtful scholarly answers. You might consider the following while conceptualizing your discussion questions: What were the most important contribution(s) of the paper? What are your major criticisms? What do you still find incomprehensible or problematic for the research area? Do you see any connections or contradictions with other papers from this or other courses? Do the authors solve problems unresolved in papers we’ve read previously? Do the authors fail to take into account important ideas or findings put forward by others? If major theoretical or empirical problems remain unresolved, what type of study could help to resolve them? (I would smile upon efforts to generate new research ideas to resolve old problems J). Your questions are meant to stimulate critical thinking in your classmates about ideas, theories, and/or empirical strategies and findings. Feel free to do additional reading to formulate answers to your questions. Scholarly answers tend to be more persuasive than purely opinion-based answers. I will evaluate discussion questions for quality of (a) questions raised; (b) written answers to the questions, and (c) writing style. Marks for the discussion questions will form 15 percent of the final grade.
Notes:
- I will circulate discussion questions to the class no later than Monday mornings. Consequently, you must send me your discussion question(s) no later than 9:00 am on the Sunday preceding your discussion session. Along with your question(s), you must submit an outline of your answer(s) so I can assess whether or not the topic is likely to generate productive discussion, and whether or not you are on the right track to answer your own question(s). [Consider sending me your questions alone even earlier so you don’t waste time answering questions that may be changed].We may need to correspond before your questions are finalized, so if you are not available on Sunday to discuss any necessary changes to your questions, then you must submit your questions to me earlier. Papers containing discussion questions and completed answers must be emailed to me no later than noon on the day of the discussion (lynnez@uwo.ca).
- A good discussion paper does not involve simply summarizing the reading(s). You may begin with a quick summary and then quickly move on to your critical analysis.
- Please organized your discussion paper so that the question appears before the answer (single-spaced), and the answer is double-spaced. Be sure to develop your answer in sufficient detail so that I have a good sense of your meaning and direction. If you can’t answer your questions adequately in the space provided, then pose fewer questions.[You may raise more questions in the discussion with classmates than you answer in your paper].
- Include a reference list.
- See course website for pointers on effective discussion leading (under Resources).
Research Proposal
Research Proposal Paper (25%):
For your major assignment, you will prepare and present a (10-12 page) research proposal that aims to further our understanding of the causes, consequences, or cures for bullying and/or victimization, or the group processes by which these maladaptive relationships are maintained. The introduction should summarize the state of current knowledge regarding the focal problem, identify a knowledge gap and provide justification for filling this gap (i.e., it should be clear why filling this gap is theoretically important), briefly describe the research plan, and articulate a set of hypotheses. The method section should include a description of the proposed research population, research design, measures, and procedures. In a separate section, you should describe the statistical analyses you will use to describe your data and test your hypotheses. Given that these are proposals and not actual projects, you are free to develop a research strategy that maximizes your ability to address your research question in a convincing manner (e.g., experimental or longitudinal approaches). See course website for sample topics.
Written research proposals must contain title page, abstract, introduction, method, proposed analysis, and reference sections. You may also include Figures represented your hypothesized results. The paper must be no longer than 12 double-spaced pages, excluding title page, abstract, and references (and figures).
You must email your research proposal paper to me by 5 pm on Dec. 7 (or 9 am on Dec. 10 for students presenting on Dec. 5). I will judge the paper for both style (i.e., writing proficiency) and content.
Research Proposal Prospectus (5%)
At least two weeks before your presentation, you must send me a 500-word maximum (plus references) description of your research question and why it is important, as well as a brief sketch of the method you’ve selected to address your question. I will sign off on your plan or suggest revisions, and send references if I know of any that are pertinent to your research question.
Research Proposal Presentation (15%)
Beginning on Oct. 17, students will present their research proposals in class. Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes plus a 10-minute discussion period. Details regarding the presentation will be available on the course website. You must meet with me to go over your slides prior to your presentation. Because this process often results in changes to the slides, you should allow ample time to make revisions. Consequently, I recommend that you book a meeting with me at least several days prior to your presentation, and at minimum two days ahead. You must email me your final slides no later than noon on your presentation day. I will print these and use them for note-taking during your presentation.
I will judge presentations for style and primarily content; your presentation will be worth 15 percent of your final grade.
Feedback on the presentation should be taken into account during preparation of the paper.
General Notes Regarding Paper Submissions
- Check your writing for grammatical and spelling errors as these can lower your paper marks. Always use APA format when writing papers for this course.
- When naming documents that you submit to me, your own name should come first, and then the document name (e.g., Jennifer Lawrence Discussion Paper.docx). Your name also should be on the first page of each document.
- Submit documents in Word rather than PDF.
Penalty for Late Papers
All papers are due at the times indicated above. Late papers will receive a penalty of 3% per day out of 100%.
Summary of Course Requirements
|
Requirement |
Percent of Final Mark |
|
1. Class participation |
20 |
|
2. Weekly Quizzes |
20 |
|
3. Discussion Questions |
15 |
|
4. Research Proposal Prospectus |
5 |
|
5. Research Proposal Presentation |
15 |
|
6. Research Proposal Paper |
25 |
Note: To pass this course, you must pass the essay component. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.
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 Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/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
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
Sept. 12 Organizational Meeting (bring your calendar because we will be assigning presentation dates today).
Sept. 19 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. 26 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.
Oct. 3 Causes (?) and Consequences? of Bullying and Victimization
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.
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.
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. 10 Fall Reading Week. No Class.
Oct. 17 Consequences of Victimization, cont’d
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.
Hoglund, W. L., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2007). Managing threat: Do social-cognitive processes mediate the
link between peer victimization and adjustment problems in early adolescence? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 525-540.
Oct. 24 Cyber Bullying
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. 31 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.
Nov. 7 Group Dynamics of Bullying and Victimization
Huitsing, G., Veenstra, R., Sainio, M., & Salmivalli, C. (2012). “It must be me” or “It could be
them?”: The impact of the social network position of bullies and victims on victims’ adjustment. Social Networks, 34, 379-386.
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. 14 Bullying, Victimization, and Other Relationships
Rinehart, S. J., & Espelage, D. L. (2016). A multilevel analysis of school climate, homophobic name-
calling, and sexual harassment in victimization/perpetration among middle school youth. Psychology of Violence, 6, 213-222.
Wolke, D., & Skew, A. J. (2012). Bullying among siblings. International Journal of Adolescent
Medicine and Health, 24, 17-25.
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. 21 Intervention
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.
Yeager, D. S., Dahl, R. E., & Dweck, C. S. (2018). Why interventions to influence adolescent behavior
often fail but could succeed. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13, 101-122.
Nov. 28 Prevention
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. 5 Class Presentations
Dec. 7 Your final paper must be submitted to Turnitin AND emailed to me no later than 5 pm on Dec. 7, except for students who present on Dec. 5. The latter group must submit papers no later than 9 AM on Dec. 10.
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
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
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
- 2018 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
