The effect of classroom aggression-related peer group norms on students' short-term trajectories of aggression.

Using a four-wave/seven-month longitudinal design with a sample of 1595 preadolescents (53% boys, 47% girls, Mage = 10.2 years) from 63 fourth-, fifth- and sixth- grade classrooms in nine mixed-sex schools in Bogotá, Colombia, we examined whether growth trajectories of measures of overt and relational aggression varied as a function of classroom norms for aggression. Multilevel growth mixture modeling revealed (a) distinct trajectories of overt and relational aggression for boys and girls and (b) that norm salience (i.e., the process by which a group norm is made salient via the punishments or reinforcements to the behavior within the group) was a better predictor of associations with trajectories of overt and relational aggression than were perceived injunctive norms (i.e., the perceived standards of what is approved or disapproved in a social context). In classrooms where popular or accepted children were perceived by their peers as aggressive, more boys followed an increasing trajectory of overt and relational aggression than a low-stable trajectory, and more girls followed a high-stable trajectory of relational aggression than a low-stable trajectory. These findings are discussed in terms of the practical implications for the design of educational interventions aimed at preventing aggression in classroom settings.

Classrooms in Peace Within Violent Contexts: Field Evaluation of Aulas en Paz in Colombia.

Classrooms in Peace (Aulas en Paz) is an elementary school-based multicomponent program for prevention of aggression and promotion of peaceful relationships. Inspired by international programs and socio-emotional research, it includes (1) a classroom universal curriculum, (2) parent workshops and home visits to parents of the 10% most aggressive children, and (3) extracurricular peer groups of two aggressive and four prosocial children. Activities seek to promote socio-emotional competencies such as empathy, anger management, creative generation of alternatives, and assertiveness. A 2-year quasi-experimental evaluation was conducted with 1154 students from 55 classrooms of seven public schools located in neighborhoods with the presence of youth gangs, drug cartels, and high levels of community violence in two Colombian cities. Despite several implementation (e.g., about half of the activities were not implemented) and evaluation (e.g., randomization problems, large number of missing data, and changes between treatment and control groups) challenges, positive results were found in prosocial behavior and in reduction of aggressive behavior, according to teacher reports, and in assertiveness and reduction of verbal victimization, according to student reports. Furthermore, implementation cost (25 US dollars per student per year) was very low compared to other programs in developed countries. This study shows that the Classrooms in Peace program has an important potential to generate positive results and highlights the challenges of implementing and evaluating prevention programs in highly violent environments.

Money and age in schools: Bullying and power imbalances.

School bullying continues to be a serious problem around the world. Thus, it seems crucial to clearly identify the risk factors associated with being a victim or a bully. The current study focused in particular on the role that age and socio-economic differences between classmates could play on bullying. Logistic and multilevel analyses were conducted using data from 53,316 5th and 9th grade students from a representative sample of public and private Colombian schools. Higher age and better family socio-economic conditions than classmates were risk factors associated with being a bully, while younger age and poorer socio-economic conditions than classmates were associated with being a victim of bullying. Coming from authoritarian families or violent neighborhoods, and supporting beliefs legitimizing aggression, were also associated with bullying and victimization. Empathy was negatively associated with being a bully, and in some cases positively associated with being a victim. The results highlight the need to take into account possible sources of power imbalances, such as age and socio-economic differences among classmates, when seeking to prevent bullying. In particular, interventions focused on peer group dynamics might contribute to avoid power imbalances or to prevent power imbalances from becoming power abuse. Aggr. Behav. 41:280-293, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Manejo de casos de intimidación escolar: método de preocupación Compartida

La intimidación escolar (bullying), aquella agresión repetida y sistemática que usualmente refleja un desbalance de poder, es frecuente en prácticamente todas las instituciones educativas. Dado que la intimidación tiene consecuencias muy negativas para todos los involucrados, es fundamentalidentificar las mejores maneras para disminuir su prevalencia. Existen diversos programas para prevenir el surgimiento de la intimidación. Sin embargo, es relativamente poco lo que se sabe sobre cuáles son las mejores maneras de manejar la intimidación cuando ya ha surgido. El presente estudio exploratorio evaluó cualitativamente el Método de Preocupación Compartida, una estrategia para el manejo de casos de intimidación escolar basada en una serie de reuniones individuales y grupalescon los involucrados. La evaluación mostró que el Método parece tener mejores efectos para algunosintimidadores que para otros, por lo que más investigación es requerida, incluyendo análisis de posibles variaciones.

Bullying, a repeated and systematic aggression that usually implies power imbalance, is frequent in almost every school. Given that it has very negative consequences for all those involved, it is crucial to identify the best ways to reduce its prevalence. There are several programs that seek to prevent bullying from occurring. However, we know very little about the best ways to manage bullying once it has occurred. The current exploratory study evaluated qualitatively the Shared Concern Method, a strategy for managing cases of bullying based on a series of individual and group meetings with thoseinvolved. Results showed that the method seems to have better results with some of the bullies than with others, which indicates that more research is needed, including analyses of possible variationsto the method.

A intimidação escolar (bullying), aquela agressão repetida e sistemática que usualmente reflete um desequilíbrio de poder, é freqüente em praticamente todas as instituições educativas. Dado que a intimidação tem conseqüências muito negativas para todos os envolvidos, é fundamental identificaras melhores atitudes para diminuir sua prevalência. Existem diversos programas para prevenir o surgimento da intimidação. No entanto, é relativamente pouco o que se sabe sobre quais são as melhores atitudes de conduzir a intimidação quando já surgiu. O presente estudo exploratório avaliouqualitativamente o Método de Preocupação Compartilhada, uma estratégia para o uso de casos deintimidação escolar baseada em uma série de reuniões individuais e grupais com os envolvidos. A avaliação mostrou que o método parece ter melhores efeitos para alguns intimidadores que para outros, por isso mais investigação é requerida, incluindo análise de possíveis variações.