This study examined the enemy images as perceived by young children in two countries. The children’s sources of information as well as whom or what they conceived as a protector from the enemies were also inquired. The field of enemy images among young children is hitherto a relatively unexplored one. However, the study was influenced by more general literature on how children perceive their social environment, and in particular by the writings of Lambert and Kilneberg, Vygotsky, Cullingford, Dragonas and Frangoudaki. The empirical part of the study took place from January 1966 to February 1997 with 171 school children aged five to nine. It was conducted in Greece (in a big city and an island) and in Britain (in a small English city). Due to problems of access the number of British children involved in the research was much smaller than the Greek one. The data collection methods included semi-structured group interviews and a projective exercise, where children were asked to produce a drawing of an enemy. The children conceived specific groups or individuals as enemies. The following main enemy images could be distinguished: a. enemy-warriors (often countries that had been in a war conflict with their country in the past); b. enemy-criminals (people doing evil things, threatening the society; sometimes crime was associated with specific social groups, such as “the immigrants”); and c. enemy-acquaintances (other children at school or from the peergroup. Some cases of bullying were also reported). A number of sub-categories of enemy images were also identified. Almost all the interviewees described the same enemy images. They did, however, give different emphasis and meaning on what it is to have enemies, depending on their age, gender and place where they were from. The research suggested that the social context in which children live and grow up has the major role in the formation of enemy images; children’s age and gender also appeared to influence the images children held.

The literature review explored research on school children’s coping styles to bullying, and also the demographic, psychological or bullying-related factors that could impact on coping styles. The literature suggests that there are many different possible coping responses to bullying, but gender and age related trends do seem to exist, and psychological and bullying factors appear to be related to coping response. The research report aims to look at 14-15 year olds’ self-reports of bullying and how this relates to factors of schizotypy, as a predictor of psychosis. Coping styles and socio-emotional difficulties were also measured to see if these had a moderating effect on the relationship between bullying and schizotypy. Results show that bully and target experience significantly predicted three of the four schizotypy subscales, but that coping style and socio-emotional difficulties did not appear to moderate this relationship. Target scores and bully scores significantly predicted avoidant coping styles, and socio-emotional difficulties. The relationship between schizotypy scores and coping styles was also analysed. The relationship between schizotypy and bullying may suggest that bullying is an early trauma that can increase vulnerability to develop psychosis, but it could also be that the experience of schizotypal traits in adolescence increases the likelihood of being involved in bullying.

This qualitative research aimed to explore what male adolescents with higher-functioning Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) understand by the term ‘bullying’, and how they experience incidents they perceive as such. It considers these questions within the context of their wider social understanding, and relationships. Nine male adolescents, aged between 11-18 years old, with diagnoses of higher-functioning ASCs were interviewed. Four participants attended mainstream educational provisions, four attended specialised ASC provisions and one attended a specialist provision for those with behavioural difficulties. Interviews covered areas of interest, school, people they felt were important to them, friendships, and experiences of bullying either as a victim, bystander and/or bully. Each interview was transcribed, and qualitatively analysed using thematic analysis. Four major themes emerged. These related to the participants’ conceptualisation of their relationships, their understanding and definition of bullying, the important roles of others within the bullying dynamic, and the participants’ personal repertoire of responses to bullying incidents. This research highlights the need for adolescents with higher-functioning ASCs to be explicitly taught about the more subtle forms of bullying behaviour. It also suggests they would benefit from instruction on age-appropriate strategies with which to respond to bullying attempts. The topic of bullying may also serve as a catalyst for discussing social nuances with young people with higher-functioning ASCs, and build on their understanding of reciprocity and loyalty in friendship.

Recent research has indicated that vulnerable incarcerated young offenders – such as those placed on formal protection as a consequence of their inability to assimilate into mainstream regimes, victims of bullying, and those who have engaged in or intimated the possibility of suicidal or parasuicidal behaviour all display impoverished problem-solving abilities. Furthermore, the deficits in their problem-solving skills are significantly correlated with the levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness these vulnerable prisoners experience. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a time-limited, group-based, problem-solving, training intervention with such vulnerable incarcerated young offenders. A total of 46 prisoners were randomly assigned to either the experimental intervention or a non-treatment condition (23 inmates in each condition). All participants completed measures of psychological distress (HADS, BHS) and self-perceived problem-solving abilities (SPSI-R) at intake, immediately following intervention, and at three-months follow-up. The value of a brief problem-solving intervention was demonstrated in that the intervention participants experienced significant reduction in their levels of psychological distress (HADS, BHS) and an improvement in their self-assessed social problem-solving abilities (SPSI-R). Methodological concerns in the current study are discussed, and directions for future research are highlighted.

This thesis is concerned with the presentation of a three year project investigating mainstream teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in one Local Educational Authority in the Southwest of England. The study used both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The first phase of the project involved a survey which indicated that educating students with significant disabilities in mainstream classrooms results in positive changes in educators’ attitudes. Here, the study confirmed previous research, which reported that teachers show positive commitment after they have gained mastery of the professional expertise needed to implement inclusive programmes. Further, the survey highlighted the importance and effectiveness of substantial self-reflective critical professional development, which results in the acquisition of generic teaching skills necessary for meeting the needs of all children, as opposed to short term technical responses to specific needs. The qualitative phase of the project involved in-depth case studies of two individual schools which considered the whole issue of inclusion from a holistic perspective. The results of the qualitative phase indicated that there are distinctions to be drawn between integration (seen as “participation”) and inclusion (“participation’ and “belonging”) -this was further highlighted by students’ personal accounts of bullying within the secondary school which described itself as “inclusive”. The qualitative aspects of the study highlighted the conclusion that “inclusive practice” is seen more in terms of integration than inclusion – students have their specific learning needs well met within the schools, but their personal needs are not well supported. The results indicate that in order to achieve inclusion, schools must look to restructuring to support personal as well as social needs. Such restructuring is dependent on specific professional development (as indicated in the quantitative study) which supports the needs of learners within “inclusive” (holistic) frameworks.

This thesis contains two studies, based on systemic thinking and qualitative research methodologies. Both studies address the issue of bullying, social exclusion and similar peer-relationship difficulties, involving deaf children. The first study is a case study of a secondary school which provided integrated education to approximately 25 moderate to severely deaf students. Grounded theory was used to analyse semi-structured interviews with a total of 44 participants drawn from a variety of sub-groups within the school system. The main findings relate to the way the construct of ‘same versus different’ was central to the reaction of the majority group towards the deaf students. The analysis addresses in turn peer reactions to this form of difference; the school’s reaction to this form of difference; and the overt function performed by the specialist staff of meeting the practical needs of the deaf children; and the more covert function the specialist staff performed in managing anxiety generated within the system by this form of difference. From these themes it is possible to offer a systemic analysis of the nature and management of bullying in this school. The second study is a retrospective study with 35 deaf adults drawn form the deaf community and patients from an NHS department of audiology. The participants varied primarily in their level of deafness [moderate to profound] and their educational placements as children. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews which were also analysed using grounded theory. The separate group processes of ostracism and scapegoating were identified as likely causes of some bullying-type behaviour: ostracism as part of the explicit functioning of the group, scapegoating as part of the implicit functioning of the group. Two premises developed in the adult study – boundary actions as a feature of bullying, and the possible relevance of implicit and explicit levels of functioning within systems – were then developed using material from both studies. Two levels of intrapsychic functioning and two levels of functioning in two-person relationships is hypothesised.

Conflicting results from published school-based anti-bullying initiatives have prompted psychologists to suggest that advances in tackling bullying will rely upon developing a greater understanding of the psychological processes underpinning bullying behaviour. This thesis aimed to address this issue by attempting to clarify the coping processes engaged in by pupils experiencing peer aggression or bullying. In order to achieve this aim, pupils’ use of coping strategies was examined within a transactional coping framework, where coping was conceptualised as a dynamic interaction between the person and their environment. Participants were 837 pupils (318 P5s, 306 S1s, 213 S2s; 48.4% male) attending mainstream Primary and Secondary schools in Scotland. Pupils completed a range of measures, at five different points in time, over a period of approximately 18 months. Variables measured at more than one data point included victimisation, appraisals (threat, challenge, control), coping strategy use, and psychological well-being (depression, self-esteem). Variables measured once included sociometric status of P5 pupils, self-efficacy of S1 and S2 pupils, bullying behaviour and emotional reaction to peer aggression. Five separate studies are reported, each focusing on a different aspect of the coping process: the stability and persistence of bullying; how pupils cope with different types of bullying; how pupils’ appraisals, emotions and coping strategies are related; the self-efficacy and hostile attribution biases of pupils involved in bully-victim problems; and the efficacy of coping strategies for maintaining psychological well-being and preventing subsequent bullying. Findings support the utility of the transactional coping model for examining coping among bullied pupils, and highlight the need to incorporate appraisals of, and emotional reactions to, bullying when researching coping responses. Furthermore, results indicate that different types of bullying are coped with in different ways, and that a “vicious circle” may operate whereby victimisation leads to further victimisation. Such findings are discussed in relation to their potential impact upon future intervention strategies, while suggestions for future research examining pupils’ coping strategies are also considered.