This book focuses on well-being at school in association with positive peer relationships and bullying. Taking an integrative and community-based approach, the book outlines the significance of student-school relationships for well-being and emphasizes the importance of school and classroom climate for promoting well-being. Embedded in research and theory, the book reflects the belief that all of our dealings with children and young people in whatever role, whether as parent or teacher or in some other capacity, are bounded by theory, either implicit or explicit. The book highlights the role of partnerships and linkages in addressing school-based well-being and anti-bullying programs. It pays special attention to the barriers and facilitators that schools must address in engaging with external agencies to deliver strong evidence-based initiatives. The international concern with school bullying is given particular consideration in relation to its impact on the well-being of all involved. A feature of the text is the focus given to the implementation of programs into the busy and complex world of schools and classrooms recognizing that the effectiveness and impact of any school-based program is strongly related to the quality of its implementation. The text reflects a commitment of the authors to a broad-based systemic view of development, taking into account family, school, community and culture as influential factors. The text incorporates a number of pedagogical features e.g. classroom based activities and discussion starters, reflections on points raised in the text, and case studies. This book is of special interest to teachers, school counselors, educational psychologists and mental health professionals working in school settings.

Bullying has long been tolerated as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have "asked for" this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied begins to internalize this idea. For many years, there has been a general acceptance and collective shrug when it comes to a child or adolescent with greater social capital or power pushing around a child perceived as subordinate. But bullying is not developmentally appropriate; it should not be considered a normal part of the typical social grouping that occurs throughout a child's life. Although bullying behavior endures through generations, the milieu is changing. Historically, bulling has occurred at school, the physical setting in which most of childhood is centered and the primary source for peer group formation. In recent years, however, the physical setting is not the only place bullying is occurring. Technology allows for an entirely new type of digital electronic aggression, cyberbullying, which takes place through chat rooms, instant messaging, social media, and other forms of digital electronic communication. Composition of peer groups, shifting demographics, changing societal norms, and modern technology are contextual factors that must be considered to understand and effectively react to bullying in the United States. Youth are embedded in multiple contexts and each of these contexts interacts with individual characteristics of youth in ways that either exacerbate or attenuate the association between these individual characteristics and bullying perpetration or victimization. Recognizing that bullying behavior is a major public health problem that demands the concerted and coordinated time and attention of parents, educators and school administrators, health care providers, policy makers, families, and others concerned with the care of children, this report evaluates the state of the science on biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization and the risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences.

An innovative collection of perspectives on school bullying and cyberbullying from India, Western Europe and Australia.

To effectively cope with school bullying it is essential to understand the issues underpinning student peer group dynamics in the school, classroom and community and this view lies at the heart of the text. While the experience of bullying others or being victimized is identified with an individual or group the solution lies with the systems eg community, school, classroom or family of which the individual is part. Particular emphasis is given to the role of prosocial behavior and a strengths based perspective in addressing how students cope with school bullying within a systemic context. The text is strongly informed by the author’s experience in developing and conducting national and international school-based anti-bullying and mental health interventions. The book advocates a systems based approach to addressing school bullying as illustrated with a program developed and evaluated by the author called the ‘P.E.A.C.E. Pack: A program for reducing bullying in schools’. This book translates research into practice with a strong evidence-based application drawing on an extensive data base. Each chapter contains practical information and research on school/classroom/community applications, trends and issues in the field and practical ideas for implementing anti-bullying measures. The first two sections consider ways to promote positive peer relations in schools and the dynamics of peer groups. Consideration is then given to cyber bullying and to theories explaining violence, aggression and bullying. Later sections examine the nature and effects of bullying, from early childhood through to adolescence on vulnerable groups, including students with special educational needs and disabilities and LGBTQ young people. The book details information for schools and teachers on ways to collect data and information to inform the interventions and policies of their school. School and classroom based resources for teachers, counsellors and administrators are identified. With school bullying now a matter of international concern not only to children, young people and their caregivers, but to schools and teachers at the forefront, this book will be important reading for all students in psychology, education, health and social welfare, as well as school administrators, teachers, counsellors and childcare professionals.

Collectively, the research presented in this book revisits, challenges, and rearticulates taken-for-granted wellbeing conceptualisations, policies and intervention frameworks, as critical discussion of wellbeing in relation to children and young people from a variety of socio-cultural, political, and economic settings is still relatively sparse. The contributions work synergistically to generate a sophisticated understanding of children’s wellbeing while introducing fresh and context-sensitive approaches. Pre-conceived and taken-for-granted notions of wellbeing are problematised through four sections in (i) Re-examining conceptualisations of wellbeing in educational research and policy; (ii) Focusing on School environments, schooling, and wellbeing; (iii) Examining the significance of cultural contexts; and (iv) Amplifying children's voices. The objective is to help generate new ways of researching and thinking about wellbeing and schooling, that transcend monocultural, monodisciplinary and monomethodological strategies. The book aims to stimulate further theoretical and empirical research, as well as development of effective policies and school interventions which nuance rather than reduce complexity of both education and wellbeing.

This book addresses, and seeks to harmonise, different paradigms for understanding school bullying. It sets out to examine two paradigms for conceptualising bullying, and the worldviews that underpin them. It uses a complex systems perspective to bring the two paradigms together in a holistic fashion. By doing so, it creates an integrated framework for conceptualising the many individual, relational and societal factors that are in dynamic interaction and play a part in promoting or reducing school bullying. This book draws upon a number of disciplines by way of background, including evolutionary, child development and social psychological theories of group behaviour and identity. It proposes that the human need for belonging is central to understanding bullying, and situates the topic within an understanding of gender and children’s human rights, bringing philosophical and moral perspectives to bear. It discusses practical ways forward, presents a systemic approach to bullying and application of complex adaptive systems methods to bullying research and evaluation. It serves as an introduction to such methods and suggests further creative ideas for policy, intervention practice, and teacher education about bullying.

The mental health and emotional wellbeing of children is fantastically important. It has a huge impact on learning and development and more and more, there is recognition of the importance of mental health for everyone. Despite this, many school staff feel overwhelmed and lack confidence when it comes to dealing with these issues in their classrooms. This new text is written for all those working in primary schools. It supports schools to develop strategies to enhance the importance of mental health and emotional wellbeing, to work on preventative strategies and to support children when they need more intervention. The text explores what we mean by mental health and wellbeing. Many children will not reach the threshold for clinical diagnosis, but they nonetheless need support. This text will outline lots of effective strategies for working with children who are struggling to manage the school day. It offers advice for engaging meaningfully with parents and considers the importance of working with school staff to ensure they are fully supported.

The narratives of the children and young people, school teachers and school leaders, parents and carers, policy makers and service managers, and mental health workers and professionals, presented in this book, should provide an invaluable resource for all those involved in mental health promotion in school. The insights drawn from these direct field experiences may help to inform policy and good practice and serve as an inspiration to schools in their efforts to introduce and promote mental health for their communities. Most of the chapters present original research carried out in schools, services, universities and other contexts across different cultures. Through various qualitative studies carried out in different cultural contexts, Mental Health Promotion in Schools provides a platform for children, teachers, school leaders, parents, professionals, policy makers and teacher educators, to express their views on what works and does not work in mental health promotion in school. In our continued quest for evidence based research, we may tend to underestimate the value and significance of capturing the views and experiences of those most directly involved in mental health promotion, such as children and young people, school teachers and parents/carers, in seeking to enhance policy and practice in the area. This book should be of particular interest to those involved in mental health promotion in school at practice, training and research levels and we are sure that among these chapters, they will discover many new and stimulating insights into the promotion of mental health in such complex systems as schools. “This is a timely book since mental health difficulties among children and young people are on the increase across the world. The editors, Carmel Cefai and Paul Cooper, are passionate about the crucial role to be played by schools in creating safe spaces in which to learn, develop and socialise. They have spent many years in the development of creative initiatives for the promotion of emotional health and well-being amongst young people. The editors bring an international perspective to the issue of mental health and youth and show how important it is to collaborate and share expertise and knowledge. Cefai and Cooper have assembled an impressive range of authors to share their knowledge and to show how initiatives can be adapted to a range of cultural contexts.” – Helen Cowie, Professor, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, UK

This volume deals with strategies aimed at increasing psychological well-being in both clinical and non-clinical settings, with a special focus on the impact of cross-cultural influences on these processes. Consisting of two parts, the book first examines clinical interventions for increasing well-being and positive functioning in adult populations. It looks at cultural differences in the experience of psychological well-being, presents an analysis of the concept of psychological well-being and discusses various interventions, including Well-Being Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Other concepts discussed are post-traumatic growth, wisdom and motivation. The second part of the book deals with psychological interventions in childhood and adolescence and has a strong emphasis on educational settings. It provides an overview of the main evidence-based psychotherapies for affective disorders in youths, and looks at the importance and impact of positive education, resilience, and hope. The book presents models for intervention and discusses several therapies in detail.

Explore the latest research and theory on bullying with this international reference from leading voices in the field The two-volume Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Bullying delivers a comprehensive exploration of a wide range of research on bullying, broadly defined. School bullying is dealt with at length, but there is also coverage of college and workplace bullying and bullying within sports settings, prisons, families, and elder care residential homes. Containing contributions from leading scholars on five continents, the book summarizes the latest theories, findings, developmental aspects, and interventions relevant to bullying in a variety of settings. With up-to-date information on rapidly developing topics like sibling bullying, cyberbullying, bias-based bullying, migration and bullying, dating violence, and economic evaluation of bullying prevention programs, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Bullying offers readers a complete view of a wide array of bullying behaviors. The insightful and up-to-date information contained within the two volumes is destined to become the standard reference for bullying-related research and theory. Readers will benefit from: Fulsome material covering research and practice conventions in countries and regions including Europe, North America, South America, Australasia, Japan, South Korea, India, Mainland China and Hong Kong, the Arab countries, and sub-Saharan Africa A comprehensive discussion on the correlates and outcomes of taking part in bullying, as well as being a victim of bullying An exploration of a variety of strategies to deal with bullying incidents, including proactive, reactive, and peer support approaches An analysis of different kinds of bullying, faith-based bullying, and disablist bullying, including racist and ethnic bullying, sexist and sexual bullying, and homophobic and transphobic bullying Perfect for postgraduate students in programs dealing with bullying in virtually any conceivable context, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Bullying will also earn a place in the libraries of researchers and practitioners in fields as diverse as psychology, sociology, social work, medicine, criminology, child care, and elder studies.