Intersectional Bullying & LGBT students: victim, perpetrator, and school and the construction of power

Author(s):

Elle Hilke Dominski(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES E 05, Education Challenges

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-22

15:30-17:00

Room:

OB-H2.12

Chair:

Lázaro Moreno Herrera

Contribution

Schools across Europe reveal varying degrees of success combatting bullying, with clear signs where anti-bullying programs work and where they do not. Finland’s KiVa[1] anti-bullying program has been so successful, schools from other countries are vying for their program, as compared to the United Kingdom with the worst bullying record in secondary school, according to a British Council survey[2].

Although education policies focusing on reducing inequalities meant to address victimization in schools throughout Europe is a priority, many young people continue to be bullied, regardless of the intentions of respective anti-bullying policies. Schools specifically recognize discriminatory bullying as having a negative impact upon pupils, such as decreased academic success and losing confidence. Nevertheless, little is known about specific nuances of bullying such as intersectional bullying and is under-researched.

The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the impact of intersectional bullying at school upon students of certain socially constructed statuses, specifically lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) youth.

Intersectional bullying[3] may be generally defined as being victimized for several socially constructed statuses. For example, a child being homophobically bullied may also be bullied for their race. Intersectional bullying, therefore, can be considered layers of victimization. I add that a sequence or layering of events within bullying paradigms as another form of intersectional bullying. Intersectional bullying may not only occur because of the construction of social identities as classifications, but also because of the construction of power paradigms creating the incidents that support the classifications. This project therefore, provided an important opportunity to advance the understanding of what should be included in the conversation around intersectional bullying.

School bullying is framed as victim and perpetrator and institutions remain blame-free ignoring inadequate procedures that may perpetuate the problem.

Drawing on youth group based research from in-depth, semi-structured interviews I conducted with LGBT adolescents who attended a youth group as part of a youth organization in a medium sized English city, I argue that intersectional bullying remains largely unidentified, and requires examination.

The young people were asked to discuss their experiences with bullying in school during which intersectional bullying revealed. This type of bullying seemed to come from multiple sources within a sequence of events defining a particular experience, rather than a one-off bullying incident. For example, an incident began with one child homophobically bullying another; the teacher intervenes moving the bullied child away from the perpetrator. The victimized child was uprooted and moved, which further disrupted the class with all eyes on him, further isolating him, rather than the perpetrator who suffered no immediate consequences. All emphasis was on the boy being bullied, thereby punishing him via indirect victimization through the institutional measures utilized by the teacher. The teacher only acknowledged the bullying as a general incident rather than specifically addressing it as homophobic. The teacher’s reaction sent a message that the bullied boy was the challenge. Intervention became part of the problem creating a multi-layered effect of intersectional bullying. This established power paradigms supporting the bully, the institution and the bullying itself as it was only insignificantly addressed, perpetuating the victimized child as the problem.

I argue that recognizing education through a lens of inclusion begins to realize most educational systems are poorly equipped to handle diversity. A system that is underpinned by the child as the problem rather than the education system itself accentuates the need to extrapolate the definitions of bullying to include intersectional bullying and requires interrogation of the policies that are meant to protect.

Method

Grounded in critical theory informing assumptions on inclusion and bullying, challenged the reproduction of inequalities. Guiding principles drew upon what is known about bullying to illustrate tensions that exist and who the players are within given contexts. The impact of intersectional bullying challenged the parameters of discrimination revealing the inadequacies of school policies. Epistemologically, I worked from assumptions that knowledge as socially constructed was produced by power and was an expression thereof. Framed as such, the main questions addressed in this paper are: a) what are the bullying experiences of young LGBT people in school, and b) how important is it to understand intersectional bullying in their experiences? Borrowing from several qualitative methodologies as action research and ethnography, my methodological approach is rooted in descriptive case study gaining an in-depth understanding of various phenomena. By utilizing multiple practices, I was able to create an original body of work from which I engage with particular observations. As an empirical study and part of my Ph.D. research, I examined young people’s accounts of school-based bullying, utilizing multiple methods such as observations, field notes, and semi-structured interviews, from which I created narratives of pupil’s lives as a lens through which to explore their experiences. I juxtaposed this with quantitative methods utilizing surveys and questionnaires to create validity and a degree of reproducibility. Through my chosen approach, indicators of intersectional bullying that may otherwise not be measured directly were highlighted. Through a rigorous, best practices approach to reduce bias, evidence-based scoping review of literature synthesized present research. I was able to establish limitations of current research with the multiple aspects of intersectional bullying. There seemed to be general agreement regarding the complexities of bullying (see Berger, et al. 2008) and the negative impact on the bullied (Birkett et al. 2009) and the school community at large (Richard et al., 2011). Additionally, research pointed to the level at which LGBT pupils were bullied (Buston et al., 2001; Epstein et al., 1998) and lacking authentic support (Rothon et al. 2011). Very little surfaced about identity based intersectional school-based bullying (see Garnett, et al. 2014; Daley, et al., 2008), and even less on experience based intersectional bullying. There are several important areas where this paper makes a unique and original contribution to understanding the complexities of bullying, engaging with power and policy paradigms that support newly identified levels of intersectional bullying.

Expected Outcomes

Eighteen participants included nine females, five males, one transgender female and three transgender males participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Eight participants completed surveys about bullying, seventeen completed sex-role stereotyping inventory pointing to the social construction of classifications as a point of bullying origin as well as having participated in discussions, and twelve participated in role-playing activity underscoring bullying. Findings suggested not everything that is bullying is recognized as such, and institutional paradigms meant to support may instead victimize. Respondents revealed sequences of intersectional bullying originating from (1) another pupil, then (2) from a teacher and how they addressed bullying, to (3) the teacher’s perception of student's voice and not recognizing social structures that oppressed. Additional conversations with teachers supported pupil’s narratives. • Teacher: student voice was not about empowerment, rather “it’s a stick to hit the teacher.” • The teacher responded to bullying as a one-off situation, “getting to the bottom” of a bullying circumstance meant more work for the teacher, “have enough accountability issues to address.” The educational system is channeling how to deliver a curriculum, and in teachers opinions, with little or no space, felt a student-voice was disruptive. • Per young people’s accounts, teachers seemed to see them as trouble makers: o a young person coming to school late to avoid being bullied, only to get into trouble for coming late to school; o being bullied by the ‘popular’ kids, eventually retaliating, getting into trouble for the action of retaliation, without consideration to why the retaliation occurred in the first place. • Inclusionary measures at school may not be designed as a continuous process of finding better methods for responding to diversity, rather considered ‘fixed’ as single solutions applied universally. Limitations: this study took place only in England, and honesty of responses for questionnaire and survey could not be measured.

References

Footnotes: [1] KiVa coming from the Finnish words ‘kiusaamista vastaan’ which literally mean ‘against bullying’ http://www.kivaprogram.net/program [2] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmeduski/85/85.pdf [3] Intersectionality, first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 is a theory addressing the intersections of identities and oppressions Bibliography: Berger, C.; Karimpour, R.; Rodkin, P.C. Bullies and Victims at School: Perspectives and Strategies from Primary Prevention. In: Miller, T. W. School violence and primary prevention. (2008) New York: Springer, Chapter 15, 295-322 DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-77119-9_15 Birkett, M.; Espelage, D.L.; Koenig, B. LGB and Questioning Students in Schools: The Moderating Effects of Homophobic Bullying and School Climate on Negative Outcomes. Youth Adolescents (2009) 38:989-1000. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-008-9389-1 Buston, K.; Hart, G. Heterosexism and homophobia in Scottish school sex education: exploring the nature of the problem. Journal of Adolescents 2001, 24, 95-109 DOI: 10.1006/jado.2000.0366 Daley, A; Solomon, S; Newman, P.A.; Mishna, F. Traversing the Margins: Intersectionalities in the Bullying of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, (2008) 19:3-4, 9-29. DOI:10.1080/10538720802161474 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10538720802161474 Elamé, E (2013) Discriminatory Bullying; a new intercultural challenge. Springer: Milan, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London. ISBN 978-88-470-5234-5, DOI: 10.1007/978-88-470-5235-2 Epstein, D.; Johnson, R. (1998) Schooling Sexualities .Open University Press: Buckingham, Philadelphia Garnett B, R; Masyn, K.E.; Austin, S.B.; Miller, M.; Williams, D.R.; Viswanath, K. The Intersectionality of Discrimination Attributes and Bullying Among Youth: An Applied Latent Class Analysis. Youth Adolescents (2014) 43:1225 – 1239. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-013-0073-8 McEvoy, A; Welker, R. Antisocial Behavior, Academic Failure, and School Climate; A Critical Review. Journal of Emotional and behavioural Disorders, Fall 2000 vol. 8 no. 3 130-140. DOI: 10.1177/106342660000800301 Richard, J.F.; Schneider, B.H.; Mallet, P. Revisiting the whole-school approach to bullying: Really looking at the whole school. School Psychology International June 2012 vol. 33 no. 3, 263-284. Rothan, C.; Head, J.; Kineberg, E.; Stansfeld, S. Can social support protect bullied adolescents from adverse outcomes? A prospective study on the effects of bullying on the educational achievement and mental health of adolescents at secondary schools in East London. Journal of Adolescence Volume 34, Issue 3, June 2011, pages 579-588 DOI:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.02.007

Author Information

Elle Hilke Dominski (presenting / submitting)

University of Notitngham

School of Education

Nottingham

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