Prevailing Interventions to Address Peer Victimization at school: A Study of California School Psychologists

Abstract

In an effort to understand how schools are coping with incidents of peer victimization, this study explored the types of related interventions currently being offered by public schools in Northern California. School psychologists’ perceptions of the importance of the available interventions were also examined (N = 96). The interventions reported to be the most widely available were a) whole-school no tolerance policies and b) school to home communication. Generally, the endorsed availability of interventions decreased as the intensity level of intervention increased. Interventions endorsed as most important were a) the whole-school no tolerance policy; b) general school climate interventions; c) school to home communication; and d) education of school personnel about bullying. Analyses examining the relative use of primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions revealed that school psychologists report primary intervention as most important for reducing levels of bullying at their schools. Analyses also revealed that the differences between psychologists’ ratings on each of the levels of the intervention hierarchy were significant. Implications for further scholarship and practice are discussed.