Psychology Research
Topic Description: Bullying
Ahmed Alqassab
Psychology
St.Lawrence
Running head: TOPIC DESCRIPTION: BULLYING 1
TOPIC DESCRIPTION: BULLYING 3
Topic Description: Bullying
The topic in psychology chosen to be examined in greater depth in my research is bullying. In ("Bullying," 2017), bullying is described as an aggressive behaviour whereby an individual deliberately and constantly causes someone else discomfort or injury. This kind of behaviour takes place in the form of words, physical contact, or other subtle actions, where the victim is typically incapable of defending themselves. According to ("What Is Bullying," 2017), for a behaviour is considered bullying, it must be aggressive and should include a power imbalance, where the individual who bully use their physical strength, popularity, or access to humiliating information to harm or control others. As well, the behaviour must occur more than once or be probable to take place more than once. Some examples of bullying actions involve spreading rumours, making threats, physical or verbal attack, and detaching a person from a particular group on purpose.
The reason I find this topic interesting is the way bullying’s prevalence has exceeded over the years, an issue that needs to be addressed. Additionally, this behaviour causes negative psychological impacts, not only on the victims but also on the bullies as well as the society in general. According to (Schafer, 2015), the World Health Organization ranks Canada among the nations in the developed world that have the highest rates of bullying. Unfortunately, these rates have remained relatively consistent over the years, despite the calls that Canada needs to be doing better. According to PREVNet, an active non-governmental organization made of a network of Canadian researchers who work together to stop bullying in Canada, 75% of Canadians admit having been affected by bullying. Even though most learning institution and organizations have dedicated numerous resources towards prevention of bullying in Canada, the country still ranks higher than two-thirds of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. As well, PREVNet claims that 50% of Canadian students acknowledge that bullying is an issue at learning institutions, while 78% of Canadians believe that the efforts being put to stop the behaviour are trivial. Interestingly, the stats by the organization indicate that 60% of bullying males develop criminal records by the time they attain the age of 24. The increase in bullying prevalence may be attributed to the advance in technology, where bullying has been extended to social media sites, often called cyber-bullying (Clark, 2014).
Among the things, I would like to understand in this research is the psychology behind bullying. For example, I would like to learn the correlation between individual traits and bullying. As well, the study should attempt to find out if some external factors like peer influence, family background, societal context, and school setting are connected to bullying. Another motive of this study will be to understand the correlation between bullying/victimization and psychopathology as well as the consequences of such behaviour. As well, the study will try to research on how bullying can be handled from a psychological perspective.
For this research, I will use bullying information derived from credible sources as well as conduct interviews in settings where the behaviour has a high prevalence. For example, to understand the psychological perspective of bullying, I will use peer-reviewed journal articles such as the ones by Swearer, & Hymel, (2015), Craig, & Pepler, (2007), and Yamada, Cappadocia, & Pepler, D. (2014), among other sources. As well, I will conduct interviews with stakeholders in organizations, learning institutions, and societal settings where bullying is most prevalence. For statistics on credible data concerning the problem, I will utilize reliable data from government organizations as well as non-governmental organizations such as PREVNet and Red Cross. For instance, ("Canadian Bullying Statistics - CIHR," 2017), will be some the useful sources of information in this study.
References
Bullying. (2017). http://www.apa.org. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/
Canadian Bullying Statistics - CIHR. (2017). Cihr-irsc.gc.ca. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/45838.html
Clark, D. (2014). The numbers behind bullying in Canada. Fairview Post. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.fairviewpost.com/2014/09/24/the-numbers-behind-bullying-in-canada
Craig, W. M., & Pepler, D. J. (2007). Understanding bullying: From research to practice. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 48(2), 86.
PREVNet. (2017). Bullying Statistics and Infographics | PREVNet - Canada's authority on bullying. Prevnet.ca. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.prevnet.ca/research/bullying-statistics
Schafer, A. (2015). Bullying Awareness Week: Canada Has Some Of The Highest Bullying Rates In The World. HuffPost Canada. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/17/bullying-awareness-week_n_8583154.html
Swearer, S. M., & Hymel, S. (2015). Understanding the psychology of bullying: Moving toward a social-ecological diathesis–stress model. American Psychologist, 70(4), 344.
What Is Bullying? (2017). StopBullying.gov. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html
Yamada, S., Cappadocia, M. C., & Pepler, D. (2014). Workplace bullying in Canadian graduate psychology programs: Student perspectives of student–supervisor relationships. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 8(1), 58