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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore students’ and staff members’ understandings of bullying and related social constructs within a U.S. high school. Students (N = 84) participated in interviews and focus groups; students (N = 797) and staff members (N = 77) completed surveys. The qualitative data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, and the findings were used to inform the development of survey items, which were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. Findings from both components of the study were merged during interpretation. Results suggest that the school’s social environment reflects a complicated milieu in which it is difficult to apply a research definition of bullying to problematic student social interactions. A theoretical model of how conflict, drama, aggression, and bullying are related is proposed.
Notes
1. The Building Planning Team was the internal governing structure of the school and had the ability to make administrative decisions on policy.
2. Drama is defined as a social interaction that is characterized by overreaction, exaggeration, excessive emotionality, prolongation, involvement of extraneous individuals, inflated importance, and temporary relevance (see Allen, Citation2012).
3. It is important to note that the titles associated with the vignettes were not included on the surveys. These titles have been added in this report so as to better facilitate a discussion of the research findings.
4. Male and female staff members’ responses were not compared because of the small cell size for male staff members.
