Why School Anti-Bullying Programs Don't Work

179 Pages·2008·0.6 MB·English

by  Stuart W. Twemlow

PSYCHOTHERAPY (cid:129) CHILD THERAPY
“This is an important book. Building on years of K–12 school-based research and school improve-
ment efforts, the authors describe a framework and a series of linked goals that are both wise and
practical. In fact, Stuart W. Twemlow and Frank C. Sacco were two of the first people in America A WHY SCHOOL
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to focus on the critical role that bystanders play in bully-victim behavior.” NW
—JONATHAN COHEN, president, Center for Social and Emotional Education; D
E
adjunct professor in psychology and education, Teachers College, Columbia University SM ANTIBULLYING PROGRAMS
A
“Drs. Twemlow and Sacco cogently and provocatively address the ‘undiscussables’ in the bullying L
CO
intervention literature. This book challenges us to think about the complexity of bullying behav-
CW DON’T WORK
iors and not to oversimplify the challenges facing educators, students, and parents.” O
—SUSAN M. SWEARER, associate professor of school psychology,
University of Nebraska–Lincoln; coeditor of Bullying in America
“This book sets out interesting viewpoints and practical steps, focusing strongly on the kinds of
relationships involved in bullying behaviors.” —PETER K. SMITH, head, Unit for School
and Family Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London
“Stuart W. Twemlow and Frank C. Sacco have devoted decades to understanding conscious and
unconscious individual and group processes that lead to aggressive behavior and tragedy in
schools. They do not suggest a quick fix, but delve deeper, exploring how emotional attitudes and
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actions of persons or groups dovetail to set the stage for either tragic outbreaks or an atmosphere
of safety in schools. What makes this book powerful and refreshing is the authors’ outspoken dis- PH
cussion of issues that are usually denied.” —VAMIK D. VOLKAN, M.D.,
RY
professor emeritus of psychiatry, University of Virginia;
author of Killing in the Name of Identity: Stories of Bloody Conflicts O
S
GC
“Stuart W. Twemlow and Frank C. Sacco present an excellent overview of their Peaceful School
Program intervention and impact. In short, this is a book for all people interested in reducing bul- RH
lying in schools and communities. This is an excellent engagement in the bully prevention process AO
and one that can have a very positive impact upon children, teachers, families, and communities, M
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resulting in healthier lives and better learning.” —ARTHUR HORNE, interim dean,
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College of Education, University of Georgia L

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This book serves as a guide for readers who are interested in improving school climate. Using fifteen A
years of consultation and research in a variety of U.S. and foreign schools, the authors strip down ON
the elements needed to create a healthy and productive school climate. The book challenges many
NT
commonly held notions about violence prevention and outlines a simple and inexpensive formula
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for creating sustained change in any school. The book stresses the importance of understanding the TB
underlying processes involved in the bully-victim-bystander power dynamics, the value of altruism, U
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and the use of natural leaders to begin a way to create substantial change in any school.
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STUART W. TWEMLOW, M.D., is professor of psychiatry, Menninger Department of Psychiatry, OL
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. RY
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FRANK C. SACCO is president of the Community Services Institute, Springfield and Boston, KN
Massachusetts. G

For orders and information please contact the publisher
Jason Aronson ISBN-13: 978-0-7657-0475-7
ISBN-10: 0-7657-0475-7
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. STUART W. TWEMLOW FRANK C. SACCO
90000 AND
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200
Lanham, Maryland 20706 ARONSON
9 780765 704757
1-800-462-6420 (cid:129) www.rowmanlittlefield.com
WWhhyySScchhoooollAAnnttii--BBuullllyyiinnggLLIITTHHOO..iinndddd11 11 66//2200//0088 11::2233::0044 PPMM
Why School
Antibullying Programs
Don’t Work

Why School
Antibullying Programs
Don’t Work
Stuart W. Twemlow
and
Frank C. Sacco
JASON ARONSON
Lanham (cid:129) Boulder (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
About the front cover: Positive vibrations is in a verse from a Bob Marley song;
“Rastaman vibration positive, you can’t live that negative way.” The song rallies people
to be positive and strong and to speak honestly and stand up for their rights, while taking
care of themselves. Although Jamaican in origin, it has universal application to be a gentle
warrior in one’s personal life for the good of self and others. The biracial character is
surrounded by and holds a bead bracelet. Making bead bracelets was one way a Jamacian
school harnessed the power of positive vibrations through their altruistic natural leaders.
Published in the United States of America
by Jason Aronson
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2008 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Twemlow, Stuart W.
Why school antibullying programs don’t work / Stuart W. Twemlow and Frank C.
Sacco.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7657-0475-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7657-0475-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
eISBN-13: 978-0-7657-0612-6
eISBN-10: 0-7657-0612-1
1. Bullying in schools—United States—Prevention. 2. Bullying in schools—United
States—Psychological aspects. 3. School violence—United States—Prevention.
4. School environment—United States. I. Sacco, Frank C., 1949– II. Title.
LB3013.32.T88 2008
371.7'82—dc22 2008011241
Printed in the United States of America
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
To EDUCATORS all over the planet,
who are the backbones of civil societies

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Myths, Fallacies, and Truths About School Violence Prevention 5
2 Buy In: Nothing Happens Without It 31
3 Understanding Power Dynamics, Power Struggles,
and Power Issues 51
4 Bystanding: The Forgotten Causal Factor in Violence 67
5 Feeling Safe at School 81
6 The Natural Leader: Mentalization and Altruism 93
7 Creating a Game Plan 103
8 Discussing the Undiscussables 117
9 Evaluating What We Do 133
10 Community and Institutional Resources 155
About the Authors 167
vii

Acknowledgments
Several thousand students and their families and dozens of school teachers and
other staff of USD 501, Topeka, Kansas, together with several doctoral and
master’s students in the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University
of Kansas, particularly Anne Jacobs, Edward Dill, Michael Wright, Bridget
Biggs, Jennifer Mize, and Tim Nelson, deserve much of the credit for the enor-
mously complex randomized trial that formed the backbone of our research.
Many of the project ideas came from staff of the schools and thus reflect per-
sonal experience and investment, not some disembodied research hypotheses.
Renshi Stephen Twemlow and students of the School of Martial and Medita-
tive Arts created the format and enthusiasm for the Gentle Warrior and much
of the Bruno group work. Pat McElliot, Marty Gies, Debora Hess, and Ruth
Mott did much of the implementation work. Jim Fultz, Larry Wolgast, and the
staff of the development office and Child and Family Center of the Menninger
Clinic, Topeka, Kansas, created the material support and statistical help to
make the project work. Karl Menninger and his legacy inspired us, and Joshua
J. Wagner, a Topeka student who was a victim of lethal bullying, motivated
us to do this work.
Co-principal investigators for the study included professors Twemlow,
Vernberg, and Fonagy, all of whom contributed chapters to this book.
Sharon Stredde and Walt Duy of Aurora, Illinois, put many research ideas
into practical operation, and over years these clinical trials greatly improved
the framework for the work.
Principal Somerville, Vice Principal Manning, and Ms. Henry, the reading
teacher, have helped greatly in the Sheffield all-age school in Negril, Jamaica.
Jennifer Malcolm, David Konovitch, and Audley Samuels created the atmo-
sphere and did the work there. John Brandon kindly contributed housing for
the Jamaican research team.
ix