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A Friend In Deed? Can Adolescent Girls Be Taught to Understand Relational Bullying?
Author(s) -
James Deborah,
Flynn Ann,
Lawlor Maria,
Courtney Pat,
Murphy Niamh,
Henry Bernie
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
child abuse review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-0852
pISSN - 0952-9136
DOI - 10.1002/car.1120
Subject(s) - deed , intervention (counseling) , aggression , psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , political science , law
Relational aggression is common among girls. It can be distressing for the victim and may not always be recognised as a form of bullying. This paper evaluates a school–based intervention designed to help girls understand relational bullying. Girls from a single‐sex school completed a two‐stage evaluation of the intervention. Students showed greater awareness of relational bullying after the intervention and indicated that it would influence them to change their behaviour. At follow‐up, retention of knowledge was good. Students reported greater self‐monitoring of behaviour and less exclusivity. While this is encouraging, we cannot conclude that all negative behaviours ceased. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.