Title: How to Help a Bully: Strategies for Counseling the Proactive Aggressor
1How to Help a Bully Strategies for
Counseling the Proactive Aggressor
2Bullying
- The actual or attempted infliction of injury or
discomfort by one student on another student that
is intentional, abusive, and based on an
imbalance of power between bully Victim (Cleary
Sullivan, 2004).
3Current Scope
-- Occurs daily in 1/3 of U.S. public schools
(Hall, 2006) -- Over half of todays
students will be bullied during their
education (Sanders, 2004) -- One in five
students grades 6-10 admit bullying their
classmates (Cole, Cornell, Sheras, 2006) --
School climates have been dramatically
altered by the actions of bullies (Hall, 2006)
4Impact
- Victims restricted learning, physical injury,
- increased absenteeism, lowered
self- - esteem, etc. (Limber, 2006)
- Bystanders fear of victimization, guilt for not
helping victims, peer ridicule for - snitching (Clark, 2002)
- Bullies risk of escalation, further emotional
- injury, punishment
5Prognosis for Bullies
- --Middle school students who bully are up to four
times more likely to be involved in later
criminal activity than those who do not
(Cole et al., 2006) - --Left unchecked, bullying attitudes and
behaviors become - 1. more serious
- 2. more difficult to prevent
- 3. more likely to be carried into adulthood
- (McAdams Lambie, 2003)
6Current Responses
- --Serious incidents national emphasis on
- bullying prevention (Pichler, Urban
Bockewitz, 2006) - --Have resulted in
- 1. more accurate identification
- 2. more frequent reporting
- 3. more severe punishment (Davis, 2006)
- --Have not resulted in standards of best
- practice for addressing the bullys
- aggression (McAdams Schmidt, In Press)
-
-
7Reactive v. Proactive Aggression
8Their Antecedents
Reactive generalized anger and insecurity from
perceived past rejections have rendered them
vulnerable to excessive and forceful responses to
minor stressors (Vitaro, Brendgen,
Tremblay, 2002) Proactive perceived absence of
sufficient affirmation from caregivers has
resulted in an internalized need for affirmation
that is derived from their ability to succeed
without and often at the expense of
others (Arsenio Lemerise,
2004)
9A Behavioral Profile
- --Rational excuses for why their aggression was
justified - --Verbal proficiency in defending their
self-supporting logic - --Emotional control including pressing sensitive
buttons and -
displaying false emotions - --Patronization to win favor of those who enhance
or stand in the - way of
personal gain - --Calculation of times when aggression is least
likely to be - recognized
and deterred
10Goals of Intervention
- --Optimal Empathy development for the
proactive aggressor to develop a level of empathy
that restricts his or her willingness to hurt
others for personal gain - --Immediate Cessation of aggression
- for the cost aggression to be greater than its
rewards - for the aggressor to discover and adopt less
costly, pro-social, means of affirmation -
-
11To Address Immediate Goals
- Ensure clear behavioral expectations that are
free from loopholes or ambiguity - Bullying behavior must be explicitly defined
- There must be no loopholes by which the bully can
avoid responsibility for violations - The consequences for violations must consistently
outweigh the rewards
12- Avoid debates an arguments
- Violations should be determined on the basis of
direct observation or reasonable suspicion - Once violation is determined, hold firm to
consequences, as any compromise may be seen by
the aggressor as an endorsement of his or her
control - Processing for new understanding should occur
only after the aggressor has complied with
behavioral directives
13- Avoid repetitious or standardized responses
- Assess each aggressors view of behavioral cost
and reward - Determine consequences for aggressive behavior to
ensure adequate disciplinary currency (James,
1995)
--
14- Reinforce positive achievementsbut cautiously
- All students must have opportunities for success
and self-esteem building - However, proactive aggressors may have achieved
success at other expense - Eliminate all doubt of coercion before
reinforcing the proactive aggressors achievement
in the presence of other students who may have
been victimized
15- Dont let your guard down
- The proactive aggressors behavior is
internalized--it should be anticipated - Even the most comprehensive behavioral standards
will be compromised if not carefully monitored - Maintining an air of suspicion with known of
suspected bullies may be unpleasant, but it is
necessary
16- Focus on feelings rather than facts
- Feelings are an area where proactive aggressors
may be less experienced, less in control, and
more vulnerable to suggestion - There is no rational standard for arguing the
rightness or wrongness of feelings - There may be consequences when others feel
victimized regardless of whether bullying can be
proven beyond dispute
17To Address Optimal Goal
- There must be coordinated and collaborative
- efforts involving schools, families, and
- communities to promote developmental
- change in children who lack concern for others
- (i.e., a conscience) in their actions.
- (McAdams Schmidt, in press)
18Final Thoughts
- --There are no pure reactive or proactive
- aggressors
- --Failure to address the unique motivations of
- proactive aggressors can limit intervention
- effectiveness and even empower them
- --Working with proactive aggressors requires
- an understanding of the relationship between
- firmness and caring.
19References
- McAdams, C. R. Schmidt, Christopher D. (In
Press). How to help a bully Strategies for
counseling the proactive aggressor. Professional
School Counseling, Spring, 2008 -
- Slides from this presentation can be
- obtained by contacting me at
- crmcad_at_wm.edu