Françoise Alsaker
The specificity of passive and aggressive victims in terms of social behavior in the peer group
Authors
Françoise Alsaker (University of Berne)
In spite of several findings, showing the uniqueness of aggressive victims (in school), many researchers still do not differentiate between aggressive and passive victims. It is therefore crucial to examine whether the differentiation can be made reliably prior to school entry and to identify specific characteristics of passive or aggressive victims.
The present study included 1090 children from 67 kindergartens. Data were collected using interviews with the children and questionnaires for teachers.
Our results confirm that aggressive victims have to be considered as different from passive victims and other aggressive children. Even if passive as well as aggressive victims had difficulties in finding friends, were less liked in the peer group, and looked sad and unhappy, they did not share any other characteristics with another. Passive victims were reported to be cooperative and prosocial children. Also, they were reported to be anxious and shy and to easily withdraw from peers, taking less initiative to play activities. In a social problem solving test, they typically generated fear reactions to provocative situations and suggested avoidant solutions to social problem situations. Aggressive victims displayed even more aggressive and oppositional behavior than bullies. In the problem solving test, they suggested more often aggressive strategies than other children. Implications for intervention programs against bullying will be discussed.
|
|
|
Sonja Perren
Risk factors for peer victimization in kindergarten: Do children’s behavioral patterns mediate the impact of family factors?
Authors
Sonja Perren (University of Zürich)
Maureen Groeben (University of Basel)
Stephanie Stadelmann (University of Basel)
Kai von Klitzing (University of Leipzig)
A social-ecological view of bullying suggests that risk factors for peer victimization can be identified not only on individual level but also on other levels such as family or school. The current study investigated whether behavioral difficulties mediate the impact of family variables on peer victimization or whether child and family characteristics are independent risk factors.
160 children participated in the study at the ages of 5 and 6. Teachers and parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (symptoms and pro-social behavior). Teachers indicated the frequency of peer victimization. Parents completed a questionnaire on family relations (conflicts, cohesion, and expressiveness). Children completed the Berkeley Puppet Interview (symptoms, pro-social behavior and peer victimization) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Analyses were controlled for parental educational status, foreign citizenship and child gender.
The analyses showed that child and family characteristics independently of each other predicted peer victimization at the ages 5 and 6. The higher the level of conduct problems and emotional symptoms and the lower children’s verbal ability, the higher the frequency of victimization experiences. Children from families with lower educated parents had also an increased risk of victimization. Results are discussed regarding educational and clinical implications.
|
|
|
Eveline Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger
Kindergarten children as witnesses of victimization
Authors
Eveline Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger (Pädagogische Hochschule Zentralschweiz )
Research involving schoolchildren has shown that victimization must be viewed as a group process, moving beyond the dynamics of the perpetrator-victim relationship. Virtually nothing is known about the way kindergarten children react when witnessing victimization as bystander. The present study investigates these reactions within a project on pathways of victimization in kindergarten. Data from 1135 children aged 5-7 were analysed. Sample 1 included 354 girls and 372 boys; sample 2 included 191 girls and 218 boys. Both teacher ratings and children’s interviews were used. Most children in both samples said that they were not happy when they saw another child being victimized. Whether children showed adequate, inadequate or helpless reactions when witnessing victimization depended on age, gender, and bullying status (sample 1). Children reacting adequately as bystanders were sociable, prosocial, and displayed good friendship skills, whereas children reacting inadequately or helplessly were less prosocial and had lower friendship skills (both samples). Bystander roles were also dependent on age, gender, and bullying status (sample 2). Only defenders were sociable, prosocial and had good friendship skills. Results suggest that bystander roles can already be identified for kindergarten children, indicating that children’s behavioral reactions as bystanders of victimization must be considered when identifying the processes that help maintain negative and harmful peer interactions.
|
|
|
Maureen Groeben
Does peer victimization mediate the impact of social competence on emotional symptoms?
Authors
Maureen Groeben (University of Basel)
Stephanie Stadelmann (University of Basel)
Kai von Klitzing (University of Leipzig)
Sonja Perren (University of Zurich)
Children’s social competence can be differentiated into self-oriented (e.g. being assertive) versus other-oriented behaviours (e.g. being prosocial). We investigated the role of these dimensions for children’s peer victimization and emotional well-being. We hypothesized that peer victimization mediates the association between social competence and emotional symptoms. 331 Kindergarten children participated in the study (M=5.5 years, SD=0.6). Teachers and parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Teachers also completed a questionnaire on social competence and victimization. Children completed the Berkeley Puppet Interview. Children with deficits in social competence showed more emotional symptoms and more negative peer relations than socially competent children. Deficits in other-oriented social competence (low pro-social behavior, low cooperation, high aggression) were more strongly related to peer victimization than deficits in self-oriented social competence (low social initiative, low assertiveness, high withdrawal). The mediational hypothesis was partly supported. The results suggest that deficits in self-oriented social competence directly impairs children’s emotional well-being, whereas deficits in other-oriented social competence has indirect negative effects on children’s emotional symptoms.
|