The role of social context in bullying: promoting inclusive school by shaping positive peer culture

Bullying, defined as aggressive, goal-directed behavior that harms another individual within the context of a power imbalance (Volk et al., 2017) represents a problem in all schools around the world and has very negative short-term and long-term consequences for all students: those directly involved (i.e., victims and bullies) as well as bystanders (e.g., Schoeler, 2018). Understanding the relationship between characteristics of classrooms as students’ primary peer contexts and their individual characteristics is crucial for effective bullying prevention. This is particularly important in the transition into adolescence – the developmental period characterized by significant qualitative changes in the social dynamics of bullying (Yeager et al., 2015). Previous studies performed in the Slovenian context contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of some relevant aspects of bullying (e.g., Košir et al., 2019, 2020a; Pečjak & Pirc, 2017; Pirc et al., 2019; Šulc & Bučar Ručman, 2019); however, we lack the evidence for designing comprehensive bullying prevention and intervention programs that would address and consider the developmental needs of adolescents and the developmental specifics of adolescents’ peer groups. Existing programs (both in Slovenian and international context) that aim to prevent or cope with bullying fail to fully address all the specifics of social dynamics and the manifestation of bullying in adolescence, so their effects are small (Yeager et al., 2015). In the proposed project, the complex processes and factors of social motivation and peer influence will be carefully examined in three methodologically differently designed studies, thus providing a comprehensive insight into the social dynamics of bullying in adolescence. The main aim of the proposed research project is to examine the reciprocal relationship between the indicators of classroom social dynamics and the ways of students’ involvement in bullying in early adolescence. In addition, we aim to investigate the relationship between students’ psychosocial and academic adjustment and the moderating role of classroom psychosocial characteristics in this relationship. Using longitudinal research on a large sample of adolescents, we will gain insight into relationships between students’ bullying involvement, their social position in the classroom, and classroom psychosocial characteristics (Study 1). Using social network analysis measures, we will gain a more comprehensive insight into the complex dynamics of peer relationships in the classroom, which will significantly contribute to research findings that mostly used individual measures aggregated to the classroom level as measures of classroom-level variables. The diary study (Study 2), conducted on a small subsample of participants, will provide us with an in-depth understanding of the impact of specific bullying events on classroom social dynamics. Based on the findings of Study 1 and Study 2, the guidelines for designing the preventive and intervention activities and programs to support such classroom contexts that work as a protective factor of bullying in adolescence and support adolescents’ effective social and emotional learning will be developed. These guidelines and recommendations will be validated using focus groups with adolescents (Study 3). As the guidelines will be aimed at teachers as key agents who can create and maintain the inclusive peer culture in the school environment, the ecological validity of the guidelines will also be examined in focus groups with teachers.