Participant role approach to school bullying: implications for interventions

This paper describes practical implications of the participant role approach to bullying in schools. This view looks at bullying as a group phenomenon which is largely enabled and maintained by members of a school class taking on different participant roles (such as assistants of the bully, reinforcers of the bully, or outsiders). Since peers are involved in bullying in different ways, and seem to be powerful moderators of behaviour in a school class, this "peer group power" should also be utilized in putting an end to bullying. In interventions targeting the whole peer group it is peers that, after initial adult encouragement and training, take action against bullying. This happens informally, in their spontaneous everyday intractions. Peers can also be utilized in formal helper roles, as peer counsellors. It is suggested that the focus of counselling could be shifted from supporting the victims towards also working with students in other participant roles.