Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T05:14:45.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bullying in an Aboriginal Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Juli Coffin ,
Ann Larson  and
Donna Cross
Juli Coffin
Affiliation:
Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 109, Geraldton, Western Australia, 3561, Australia
Ann Larson
Affiliation:
Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 109, Geraldton, Western Australia, 3561, Australia
Donna Cross
Affiliation:
Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford Street, Mt Lawley, Western Australia, 6050, Australia
Get access

Abstract

Aboriginal children appear to be more likely to be involved in bullying than non-Aboriginal children. This paper describes part of the “Solid Kids Solid Schools” research process and discusses some of the results from this three year study involving over 260 Aboriginal children, youth, elders, teachers and Aboriginal Indigenous Education Officers (AIEO's), and an Aboriginal led and developed Steering Committee. It is the first study that contextualises Aboriginal bullying, using a socio-ecological model where the individual, family, community and society are all interrelated and influence the characteristics and outcomes of bullying.

This paper demonstrates that for Aboriginal children and youth in one region of Western Australia, bullying occurs frequently and is perpetuated by family and community violence, parental responses to bullying and institutional racism. Addressing bullying requires actions to reduce violence, foster positive cultural identity and reduce socio-economic disadvantage.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , 2010 , pp. 77 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2007–2008). Regional population growth - Australia. Canberra, ACT: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Canberra, ACT: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2005). The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Canberra, ACT: AIHW and Australian Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
Berger, K. S. (2007). Update on bullying at school: Science forgotten? Developmental Review, 27, 90–126.Google Scholar
Brookmeyer, K. A., Fanti, K. A., & Henrich, C. C. (2006). Schools, parents and youth violence: a multilevel, ecological analysis. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 55(4), 504–514.Google Scholar
Bryant, C., & Willis, M. (2008). Risk factors in Indigenous violent victimisation. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Chandler, M., & Lalonde, C. (2009). Cultural continuity as a moderator of suicide risk among Canada's First Nations. In Kirmayer, L. & Valaskakis, G. (Eds.), The mental health of Canadian Aboriginal peoples; Transformations, identity, and community (pp. 221–248). Vancouver, British Columbia: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Coffin, J. (2008). Embedding cultural security in bullying prevention research. Manifestation: Journal of Community Engaged Research and Learning Partnerships 1(1), 66–81.Google Scholar
Colaizzi, P. (1978). Psychological research as the phenomenologist view it. In Valle, R. & King, M. (Eds.), Existential phenomenological alternatives for psychology (pp. 48–71). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Craven, R., & Bodkin-Andrews, G. (2006). New solutions for addressing Indigenous mental health; A call to counsellors to introduce the new positive psychology of success. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 16(1), 41–54.Google Scholar
deCrespigny, C., Emden, C., Kowanko, I., & Murray, H. (2004). A ‘partnership model’ for ethical Indigenous research. Collegian, 11(4), 7.Google Scholar
Farrington, D. P. (1993). Understanding and preventing bullying. In Tonny, M. & Morris, N. (Eds.), Crime and Justice (Vol. 17). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, K., Dulin, A., & Piko, B. (2010). Bullying and depresive symptomatology among low-income African-American youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 634–645.Google Scholar
Forero, R., McLellan, L., Rissel, C., & Bauman, A. (1999). Bullying behaviour and psychological health among school students in New South Wales, Australia: Cross sectional survey. British Medical Journal, 319(7206), 344–348.Google Scholar
Freemantle, J., Stanley, F., Read, A., & de Berk, N. (2004). Patterns and trends in mortality of Western Australian infants, children and young people, 1980-2002. Perth, WA: Advisory Council on the Prevention of Deaths of Children and Young People.Google Scholar
Gershoff, E. T., & Bitensky, S. H. (2007). The case against corporal punishment of children: converging evidence from social science research and international human rights law and implications for US public policy. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 13(4), 231–272.Google Scholar
Griffin Smith, R., & Gross, A. M. (2006). Bullying; Prevalence and the effect of age and gender. Child and Behaviour Therapy, 25(4), 13–37.Google Scholar
Hansen, K. L., Melhus, M., Hogmo, A., & Lund, E. (2008). Ethnic discrimination and bullying in the Sami and non-Sami populations in Norway: the SAMINOR study. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 67(1), 99–115.Google Scholar
Harris, W. W., Lieberman, A. F., & Marans, S. (2007). In the best interests of society. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(3/4), 392–411.Google Scholar
Hong, J. S. (2009). Feasibility of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in low-income schools. Journal of School Violence, 8(1), 81–97.Google Scholar
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). (1997). Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Canberra, ACT: Australian Human Rights Commission.Google Scholar
Hunter, E. (1991). The social and family context of Aboriginal self-harmful behaviour in remote Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 25, 203–209.Google Scholar
Hunter, E. (2007). Disadvantage and discontent: A review of issues relevant to the mental health of rural and remote Indigenous Australians. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 15, 88–93.Google Scholar
Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1996a). Peer victimization: Cause or consequence of school maladjustment. Child Development, 67, 1305–1317.Google Scholar
Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1996b). Peer victimization: Manifestations and relations to school adjustment in kindergarten. Journal of School Psychology, 54(3), 267–283.Google Scholar
Krug, E., Dahlberg, L., Mercy, J., Zwi, A., & Lozano, R. (2002). Violence-a global public health problem. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health OrganizationGoogle Scholar
Kumpulainen, K., Rasanen, E., Henttonen, I., Almqvist, F., Kresanov, K., Linna, S., et al. (1998). Bullying and psychiatric symptoms among elementary school-age children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 22(7), 705–717.Google Scholar
Maxim Institute. (2006). Current issues in Maori schooling. Retrieved 15 May, 2009, from wwwmaxim.org.nz./files/pdf/policy_paper_maori_education.pdf.Google Scholar
Merrell-James, R. (2006). Intra-racial bullying: An issue of multicultural counseling. Persistently safe schools 2006: Collaborating with students, families, and communities (pp. 295–298). Retrieved 15 May, 2009, from http://www.hamfish.org/.Google Scholar
Motti-Stefanini, F., Pavlopoulos, V., Obradovi, J., SDalla, M., Takis, N., & Papathanassiou, A. (2008). Immigration as a risk factor for adolescent adaptation in Greek urban schools. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5, 315–335.Google Scholar
Ohene, S.-A., Ireland, M., Clea, M., & Borowsky, I. W. (2006). Parental expectations, physical punishment, and violence among adolescents who scored positive on a psychosocial screening test in primary care. Pediatrics, 117(2), 441–447.Google Scholar
Olweus, D. (1994). Bullying at school: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35(7), 1171–1190.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (1993). School children's perceptions of their families and parents as a function of peer relations. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 154(4), 501–513.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (1994). Psychosocial functioning in families of Australian adolescent schoolchildren involved in bully/victim problems. Journal of Family Therapy, 16, 173–187.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (1997). Attitudes and beliefs about bullying among Australian school children. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 18(2), 202–220.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (1997). What children tell us about bullying in schools. Children Australia, 22(2), 28–34.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (1999). Peer victimisation at school and the health of secondary school students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 95–104.Google Scholar
Rigby, K. (2000). Effects of peer victimization in schools and perceived social support on adolescent well-being. Journal of Adolescence, 23, 57–68.Google Scholar
Rigby, K., & Slee, P. (1991). Bullying among Australian school children: Reported behavior and attitudes toward victims. The Journal of Social Psychology, 131(5), 615–627.Google Scholar
Sans, D. P., & Truscott, S. D. (2004). Empathy, exposure to community violence and use of violence among urban, at-risk adolesents. Child & Youth Care Forum, 33(1), 33–50.Google Scholar
Slee, P. (1994). Situational and interpersonal correlates of anxiety associated with peer victimisation. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 25(2), 97–107.Google Scholar
Slee, P. (1995). Bullying: health concerns of Australian secondary school Students. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 5, 215–224.Google Scholar
Slee, P., & Rigby, K. (1993). Australian school children's self appraisal of interpersonal relations: The bullying experience. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 23(4), 273–281.Google Scholar
Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Trevaskis, G. (2003). The Friendly Schools Bullying Intervention Project: Adapting resources for use in remote Indigenous school settings. Unpublished Masters, Curtin University of Technology, Perth.Google Scholar
Tummala-Narra, P. (2007). Conceptualizing trauma and resilience across diverse contexts. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 14(1), 33–53.Google Scholar
Verkuyten, M., & Thijs, J. (2002). Racist victimization among children in The Netherlands: the effect of ethnic group and school. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 25(2), 310–331.Google Scholar
Whaley, A. L. (1992). A culturally sensitive approach to the prevention of interpersonal violence among urban black youth. Journal of the National Medical Association, 84(7), 585–588.Google Scholar
Williams, K., Chambers, M., Logan, S., & Robinson, D. (1996). Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children. British Medical Journal, 313, 17–19.Google Scholar
Windisch, L. E., Jenvey, V. B., & Drysdale, M. (2003). Indigenous parents' ratings of the importance of play, Indigenous games and language, and early childhood education. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 28(3), 50–56.Google Scholar
Wolke, D., & Samara, M. M. (2004). Bullied by siblings: association with peer victimisation and behaviour problems in Israeli lower secondary school children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(5), 1015–1029.Google Scholar
Wundersitz, J. (2010). Indigenous perpetrators of violence: prevalence and risk factors for offending. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Zubrick, S., Silburn, S., Gurrin, C., Teo, H., Shephard, C., & Carlton, J. (1997). Western Australian Child Health Survey: Education, Health and Competence. Perth, WA: Australian Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
Zubrick, S., Silburn, S., Lawrence, D., Mitrou, F., Dalby, R., Blair, E., et al. (2005). The Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey: The social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people. Perth, WA: Curtin University of Technology and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.Google Scholar