Assessment and Management of Bullying Behaviour among Senior Secondary School Students in Owerri, Nigeria.

Abstract
Bullying among secondary school students has become one of the most disturbing global issues in recent times. Varieties of this behaviour abound among secondary school students in Owerri, Nigeria with their attendant debilitating consequences on all and sundry. The need to make meaningful contribution to the ways of modifying bullying behaviour among these students prompted the assessment and management of bullying behaviour among senior secondary school students in Owerri, Nigeria. The non-equivalent control group design was used. All the senior secondary two students in Owerri metropolis constituted the population for the study. The variables assessed include attitude to bullying behaviour; the prevalence of physical, verbal, social and emotional bullying; and the environments where bullying takes place most in the secondary schools in Owerri, Nigeria. There were three treatment groups and one waiting-list control group. The treatment techniques were Social Skills Training, Inhibitory Modelling, and Persuasion. The relative effectiveness of these treatment techniques in modifying bullying behaviour was determined. Six research instruments which were compiled together as a battery of questionnaire and psychological tests were used for data collection. They include Involvement in Bullying Rating Scale (IBRS), Attitude to Bullying Rating Scale (ABRS), Check-List on Environments/places of Bullying in schools (CLEB), Assertiveness Scale for Adolescents (ASA), Hare’s Self-Esteem Scale (HSES), and Liking People Scale (LPS). Three research questions were raised and were descriptively answered, while seven research hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The hypotheses include: 1. There is no significant difference in post-test mean scores on the attitude to bullying behaviour among participants in the four experimental groups. 2. There is no significant difference in post-test mean scores on the involvement in bullying among participants in the four experimental groups. 3. There is no significant difference in post-test mean scores on the interpersonal orientation of participants in the four experimental groups. 4. There is no significant difference in post-test mean scores on the self-esteem of participants in the four experimental groups. 5. There is no significant difference in post-test mean scores on the assertive behaviour among participants in the four experimental groups. 6. There is no significant gender difference in post-test mean scores on the assessment measures of participants in the four experimental groups. 7. There is no significant difference in post-test mean scores on the assessment measures due to interaction effect of experimental conditions and gender. The generated data for the testing of the hypotheses were analysed using 2x4-Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA). All the hypotheses were rejected. Some of the findings of the study were: 1. A total of 67.57% of the sample exhibited inappropriate attitude to bullying behaviour. 2. Bullying behaviour is prevalent among senior secondary school students in Owerri metropolis — 57.43% of the participants were involved as victims, 68.92% of the participants were involved as bullies, while 74.66% of the students were involved as bystanders. 3. Whereas Inhibitory Modelling technique was more effective in modifying the female participants’ inappropriate attitude to bullying, Social Skills Training and Persuasion were more effective for the male participants. 4. Social Skills Training, Inhibitory Modelling, and Persuasion are all significantly effective in modifying the involvement of the participants in bullying behaviour. The Inhibitory Modelling proved to be the most superior technique for modifying the involvement of the participants in bullying behaviour, followed by Persuasion and lastly by Social Skills Training. Based on the findings, a number of recommendations were proffered, including (i) a call for urgent need to mount anti-bullying campaign and policy against bullying in both the secondary and primary schools, (ii) the need for teachers, counsellors, school heads and administrators to devote ample time to inculcate appropriate social skills into the students by deliberately teaching these social skills during moral instructions and special school programmes.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos.
Keywords
Management , Bullying , Behaviour , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education
Citation
Ettu, T.U (2012), Assessment and Management of Bullying Behaviour among Senior Secondary School Students in Owerri, Nigeria. . A Thesis Submitted to University of Lagos School of Postgraduate Studies Phd Thesis and Dissertation, 247pp.