Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Gerald A. Killeen

Committee Member

Carolyn S. Buckenmaier

Committee Member

Maryellen Maher

Keywords

Bullying/Discipline Problems/Social Problems/Violence

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to measure the effectiveness of a strategies-based antibullying program on 4th- and 5th-grade students in an elementary school. Bullying has been a problem in this school. Despite counseling and administrative interventions, students continued to display acts of bullying against each other. Students encountered bullying in bathrooms, classrooms, hallways, the cafeteria, and during physical education. An antibullying program was never implemented in this elementary school. Faculty members had never received training to assist them with bullying prevention.

The researcher developed a strategies-based antibullying program for implementation with 4th- and 5th-grade students and provided 2 staff development training sessions for faculty members. Strategies were developed for teachers to use with perpetrators and victims. The program consisted of 6 sessions on bullying. Each session lasted approximately 50 minutes. The sessions addressed bullying, teasing, respect, harassment, and empathy.

An analysis of the results revealed that teachers were more inclined to use strategies with the students they taught even though the focus of teacher intervention was school-wide. The most successful teacher strategy was immediate teacher intervention. Students gained more knowledge from role-playing activities involving assertive responses. There was at least a 50% reduction in the number of referrals of students participating in the program; therefore, the outcome object was met. Replication of this study in another school with a similar population and with the use of a control group should provide further evidence on the antibullying program’s effectiveness.

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