Reducing Bullying Amongst Japanese Junior High School Students: An Intervention Study

Phillip Slee
Mitsuru Taki

A paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Albuquerque, New Mexico. April 15-18. The issue of school bullying is increasingly attracting the attention of researchers, educational authorities and teachers. As generally defined, bullying is an identifiable subtype of aggressive behavior where the intention is to hurt, intimidate, dominate and exert power over another. Estimates of the incidence of bullying vary from country to country but research suggests it is a significant problem in countries including Australia and Japan (Smith et al, 1999). In the present study an intervention program using the P.E.A.C.E. program (Slee, 1997; Slee & Taki, 1997) was implemented in a Japanese junior high school and monitored over a two year period. Preliminary findings indicated that the intervention was associated with an increase in 'happiness' at school and a more negative attitude to bullying. Across both years seven and eight there was a reduction in self reported victimization at school. The findings were discussed in relation to a systemic approach to the reduction of school bullying.

References

Smith, P.K., Morita, Y., Junger-tas, J., Olweus, D., Catalano, R., Slee, P.T. (1999). The Nature of School Bullying: A Cross National Perspective. Routledge: London.

Slee. P.T. (1997). The PEACE Pack: A Program for Reducing Bullying in our Schools. Flinders University: Adelaide.

Slee. P.T. & Taki, M. (1997). The PEACE Pack: A Japanese Translation. Jiji-tsushin Publishers: Tokyo.