Abstract
Pupils exposed to bullying may experience severe negative consequences, including reduced academic performance and development of mental health problems. Little is known about effective interventions to prevent and/or reduce such consequences. This study explores how schools can follow up previously bullied pupils. Four focus groups were conducted. In three, informants were national experts representing the school system, the health system, attorneys, researchers, and user organizations in Norway (n = 31). A focus group interview with a primary and lower secondary school in southwest Norway (n = 9) was also carried out. Data were analyzed via content analysis. Findings suggest that school-based psychosocial resource groups can ensure that follow-up work after bullying is systematic and of high quality. Findings provide new knowledge on how schools can organize follow-up work and suggest support systems for schools to provide high-quality follow-up work. Further research on organizing follow-up work and the specific content of follow-up work is needed.
Highlights
Bullying is defined as repeated aggressive behavior involving an imbalance of power, either actual or perceived, between the one - or those - exposed to bullying and the one who bullies, those who bully respectively (Olweus, 1993)
The findings suggest that one way to identify the need for follow-up work may be to recognize that a previously bullied pupil is experiencing an unexpected reduction in academic performance
Findings from the current study may suggest that one starting point for increasing a systematic approach could be through stimulating fruitful processes on an organizational level to increase organizational capacity
Summary
Bullying is defined as repeated aggressive behavior involving an imbalance of power, either actual or perceived, between the one - or those - exposed to bullying and the one who bullies, those who bully respectively (Olweus, 1993). The behavior can be physical, verbal, or digitally communicated and, direct and/or indirect. Bullying mainly involves three categories of individuals: the one who is being bullied, the one (or ones) that bully, and the bystanders. All three are important to follow up after the bullying is stopped. As this study focus on previously bullied pupils only this group is represented here. Stopping, handling, and preventing bullying has been high on the Norwegian government’s agenda, recent national
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