Investigating the problem of bullying through photo elicitation

Abstract

Bullying is a tenacious problem in schools. Usual strategies that attempt to regulate behaviour and improve interpersonal relationships have not yielded significant and sustained change in school cultures of violence. Usually overlooked in programmes, policies and research are indications of how social differences are a factor of bullying behaviours. Such differences mirror broader categories that are socially significant, such as race, religion, gender, physical and mental ability and sexual orientation. We employed photo elicitation methods to acquire and assess students' responses to images we collected of children and youth who represent a wide spectrum of human diversity. We asked participants to ‘think out loud’ about who would mostly likely be targeted for bullying and to explain why. Our analysis of the data indicates that our participants are aware of how social difference is linked to bullying. The themes we identify lead us to endorse bridging the gap between current anti-bullying strategies and theory and approaches that account for social difference.

Keywords:

• bullying
• social difference
• identity politics
• educational policy

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Stephen Minton for his helpful feedback.

Notes

1. Names of all participants in this study are pseudonyms.

2. We acknowledge here that, as a political strategy, descriptors such as ‘nigger’, ‘queer’ and ‘bitch’ have been reclaimed by some who are targeted in these ways as positive identities despite how such words have been, and continue to be, used in the service of oppression and violence.