Paul R. Smokowski and Caroline B. R. Evans
Bullying and Victimization Across the Lifespan Playground Politics and Power
Paul R. Smokowski MSW, Ph.D.
School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
Caroline B. R. Evans
Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-20292-7 e-ISBN 978-3-030-20293-4
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20293-4
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
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This book is dedicated to our families, who provided us with invaluable inspiration and support.
Paul R. Smokowski, Ph.D.: For my belated father, Richard T. Smokowski, who was my unwavering advocate and taught me how to guide my sons, Jose and Cesar. And for my wife, Martica Bacallao, as we journey through life together.
Caroline Evans, Ph.D.: For my husband and best friend Louis, who always provides unwavering support and wise council. And for our two wonderful daughters Alia and Alenathe next generation of strong upstanders.
This book is also dedicated to:
All the people who have been bullied, you did not deserve such disrespect.
All the people who bullied others, you can break the cycle of violence and aggression.
All the people who stood by as frightened witnesses, may you find the courage to intervene.
All the people who stood up for a victim, you are everyday heroes. Some day, we will all be upstanders rather than bystanders.
Contents
About the Authors
Paul R. Smokowski Ph.D., M.S.W., C.P.
is a Professor in the University of Kansass School of Education. He has an interdisciplinary background in social welfare, child development, and public health. Before joining KU, Dr. Smokowski was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill for 16 years. His past 15 years of work in youth violence prevention culminated in the North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center (NC-YVPC), a nonprofit agency specializing in helping rural communities promote healthy youth development that Dr. Smokowski directs. Dr. Smokowskis research teams have procured more than $15 million worth of federal funding from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Institutes of Health. As a prolific author, he has published more than 100 articles and book chapters on issues related to risk, resilience, acculturation, adolescent mental health, family stress, and youth violence prevention. Dr. Smokowski has received national awards for his youth violence prevention research, such as the 2010 Collaborators Award from the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama and the best article of the year award from the Society for Social Work Research. He served on the National Institutes of Healths Youth Violence Consortium and was a member of the inaugural class of Health Protection Research Awardees funded by the Center for Disease Controls Office of the Director. Dr. Smokowski directed the Latino Acculturation and Health Project, a multisite longitudinal study examining youth violence risk and protective factors in Latino youth, and the Entre Dos Mundos/Between Two Worlds program for helping Latino immigrant families cope with acculturation stressors. This research program culminated in Dr. Smokowskis previous book published by New York University Press titled Becoming Bicultural: Risk and Resilience in Latino Youth. In his current work, Dr. Smokowski is guiding the implementation and evaluation of a multilevel youth violence prevention initiative in one of the most ethnically diverse rural counties in the United States.
Caroline B. R. Evans Ph.D.
is adjunct faculty at Rhode Island College and works on a community violence prevention grant based in Tucson, AZ. Prior to this work Dr. Evans was a research associate for the North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center (NC-YVPC). In this role, she helped run a youth violence prevention program funded by the National Institute of Justice and worked to disseminate research findings through conference presentations and publications. Dr. Evans graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015 with her doctorate in social work, and during her academic tenure worked for the NC-YVPC on a youth violence prevention grant funded by the Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Evanss research focuses on youth violence, specifically childhood and adolescent bullying victimization and perpetration, bystander behavior, and aggression. She is particularly interested in youth violence prevention through evidence-based programs.
1. Playground Politics: How the Bullying Framework Can Be Applied to Multiple Forms of Violence
1.1 Introduction
Bullying. A single word that conjures up many strong images. What comes to your mind? The traditional image of the biggest kid in the classroom stealing lunch money? Or the geeky looking boy in glasses getting stuffed into a locker? Perhaps a group of popular girls whispering and snickering around an exclusive lunch table while a left-out onlooker sits alone? Or maybe a string of mean and hurtful text messages sent day after day? Bullying comes in many shapes and sizes, and for the last two decades or so, the national spotlight on bullying has intensified. Increased media attention to bullying, frantic parents, worried school personnel, and the multiple suicides of bullied youth have spurred bullying researchers to investigate the devastating consequences of bullying and to create and test bullying intervention programs. As a result, bullying research now has a unique niche under the umbrella of violence research.