School bullying episodes: attitudes and intervention in pre-service and in-service Italian teachers

Abstract

We compared the respective attitudes of pre-service teachers (PST) and in-service teachers (IST) towards bullying. A questionnaire survey was administered to 110 PST and 128 IST. Self-efficacy beliefs, external locus of causality and empathy for the victims were higher in IST than PST. Perceived seriousness of bullying and likelihood of intervention were higher in IST, but only in the case of overt bullying. In both PST and IST the perceived seriousness of the episode, whether overt or covert, was associated with greater empathy for the victim and greater propensity to intervene. In IST, only in the case of covert bullying, the perceived seriousness of the episode, empathy with the victims, and likelihood of intervention were negatively related to the recommendation of maladaptive strategies. These results, and their consequences on teachers’ training programmes and school preventive intervention, are discussed.