Transcript What is Mental Health?

BULLYING & MENTAL HEALTH
CUMBRIA COUNTY COUNCIL
AIMS
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You will be able to define and identify bullying and how it impacts on the
mental health of children and young people
You will be able to describe the characteristics of an anti-bullying culture
and a range of interventions that can support the development of such a
culture
You will be able to consider how bullying can increase the risk of mental
health problems, how the stigma surrounding mental health problems can
increase the risk of bullying and how an equalities imagination can help to
support children and young people dealing with bullying
KEY STATISTICS
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25% of children (age 10-15) said they worried about bullying and 46% said
they had been bullied at some point (TellUs4 2010)
16,000 young people age 11-15 are absent from school at any one time
due to bullying (NCSR 2011)
Nearly half of all children with a learning disability report being bullied for
over a year (Mencap 2007)
In a DCSF survey in 2006 virtually every single pupil of minority ethnic
heritage had been verbally abused on the ground of their ethnicity
Almost two thirds of lesbian, gay or bisexual children experienced
homophobic bullying at school (Stonewall 2007)
BULLYING
The Anti-Bullying Alliance define bullying as: the
repetitive, intentional hurting of one person by
another, where the relationship involves an imbalance
of power. Bullying can be carried out physically,
verbally, emotionally or through cyberspace.
WHAT?
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived
power imbalance. Bullying includes actions such as making threats,
spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding
someone from a group on purpose. In order to be considered bullying, the
behaviour must be aggressive and include:
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An imbalance of power: children and young people who use their power –
such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity
– to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in
different situations – even if they involve the same people.
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Repetition: bullying behaviours happen more than once or have the
potential to happen more than once.
PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL BULLYING
Physical Bullying takes the form of physical abuse, such as pushing,
shoving, hitting, fighting, spitting, and tripping. Threats of physical harm
and attempts to force people to act in ways they would prefer not to are
also included.
Emotional bullying involves factors other than physical interaction, such
as insults, derogatory remarks, name calling, and teasing. Also included
are attempts to ostracize the victim, such as being left out or ignored,
which is sometimes referred to as social bullying. Emotional bullying
could also take the form of purposely misplacing or hiding someone's
belongings. Emotional bullying can be done in person or through
cyberspace.
WHO?
Children and young people can bully others, they can be
bullied, or they may witness bullying.
When children and young people are involved in bullying, they
often play more than one role. Sometimes children and young
people may both be bullied and bully others or they may
witness other children and young people being bullied.
It is important to understand the multiple roles children play in
order to effectively prevent and respond to bullying
WHO?
Generally, children who are bullied have one or more of the following
risk factors:
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Are perceived as different from their peers, such as being overweight or
underweight, wearing glasses or different clothing, being new to a
school, or being unable to afford what kids consider “cool”
Are perceived as weak or unable to defend themselves
Are depressed, anxious, or have low self esteem
Are less popular than others and have few friends
Do not get along well with others, seen as annoying or provoking, or
antagonize others for attention
However, even if a child has these risk factors, it doesn’t mean that they
will be bullied
SPECIFIC TARGETS
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Homophobic bullying
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Bullying of students with disabilities
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Racist bullying
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Religious bullying
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Socially isolated children and young people
CHILDREN WHO BULLY OTHERS
There are two types of children who are more likely to bully others:
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Some are well-connected to their peers, have social power, are overly
concerned about their popularity, and like to dominate or be in charge of
others.
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Others are more isolated from their peers and may be depressed or
anxious, have low self esteem, be less involved in school, be easily
pressured by peers, or not identify with the emotions or feelings of
others.
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS
Children who have these factors are also more likely to bully others;
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Are aggressive or easily frustrated
Have less parental involvement or are having issues at home
Think badly of others
Have difficulty following rules
View violence in a positive way
Have friends who bully others
Remember, those who bully others do not need to be stronger or bigger
than those they bully. The power imbalance can come from a number of
sources—popularity, strength, cognitive ability—and children who bully
may have more than one of these characteristics.
CHILDREN INVOLVED IN BULLYING
Roles are not limited to those who bully or the bullied –
researchers raise the issue of “the circle of bullying” to define
those directly involved in bullying and those who are actively or
passively assist the behaviour or defend against it .
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Children and young people who bully generally require support
to change their behaviour and address any other challenges
that may be influencing their behaviour
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Children and young people who are bullied may need more
help learning how to respond to bullying
AVOIDING LABELING
When referring to a bullying situation, it is easy to call the kids who bully others
"bullies" and those who are targeted "victims," but this may have unintended
consequences. When children are labeled as "bullies" or "victims" it may:
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Send the message that the child's behavior cannot change
Fail to recognize the multiple roles children might play in different bullying situations
Disregard other factors contributing to the behavior such as peer influence or school
climate
Instead of labeling the children involved, focus on the behavior. For instance:
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Instead of calling a child a "bully," refer to them as "the child who bullied"
Instead of calling a child a "victim," refer to them as "the child who was bullied"
Instead of calling a child a "bully/victim," refer to them as "the child who was both
bullied and bullied others."
WHERE AND WHEN?
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Bullying can happen before, during and after school hours
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While most reported bullying happens in the school building, a
significant percentage also happens in the playground or on
the bus.
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It can also happen travelling to or from school and in the young
person’s neighbourhood
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It can happen on the internet – which means it can happen
anywhere and anytime
PCS ANALYSIS (THOMPSON 2003)
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Personal: thoughts feelings or actions where individuals feel
less powerful or more vulnerable
Cultural: norms, values, stereotypes and assumptions that are
part of every culture. Usually historically rooted and socially
ingrained but subject to change over time and across cultures
Structural: organizations and institutions (for example health,
education, social care, police) that may function in ways that
exclude or disadvantage certain groups
AN EXAMPLE
BULLYING
PERSONAL
CULTURAL
SOCIAL
RISK
• Internalized
behaviours
• Traumatization
• Negative self
image
• Isolation
• Lack of
identification or
acknowledgement of
bullying
• Ineffective
interventions
RESILIENCE
• Communication
• Emotional
literacy
• Empowerment • Positive policy and
practice
• Action to challenge
stigma and
discrimination
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
Children and young people who have been bullied are more
than twice as likely to report feeling sick even when there are
no obvious symptoms. Among the most common complaints
are:
Headaches, stomach aches, back aches, neck / shoulder
pains, dizziness, trouble breathing, tense muscles, nausea,
diarrhoea and bedwetting
SHAME
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Bullying results in fear, shame, embarrassment and guilt which increase whilst the
bullying continues.
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Shame is a powerful and painful emotion caused by a strong sense of guilt,
embarrassment or disgrace.
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Shame is a normal, healthy feeling originating from our sense of right and wrong .
There is often an accompanying belief, often largely unfounded, that one is
somehow deserving of disapproval, censure, condemnation and punishment.
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We are more likely to feel undue shame in proportion to how low our self-esteem and
self-confidence are. Bullying can destroy self-confidence and self-esteem. The
person who bullies heaps on the guilt, thus increasing the belief in the person being
bullied that they (the target of this abuse) are deserving of all the bad things that are
now happening to them.
DEPRESSION
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Researchers have discovered a strong link between bullying and depression
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Both those who bully and those who are bullied are more likely to suffer from
depression than young people who are not involved in bullying
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This connection can be long-lasting; people who are bullied as children are more
likely to suffer from depression as an adult than children not involved in bullying
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The link between bullying and depression can also extend to other problems, like:
Low self esteem
Anxiety
High rates of school absence
Physical illness
Teens who commit suicide often suffer from depression
SIGNS OF DEPRESSION
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Long lasting sadness or irritability,
including unexplained outbursts of
crying or anger
Sudden loss of interest in activities
the person usually enjoys
Withdrawal from others
Changes in sleep patterns, either
sleeping a lot or not being able to
sleep
Sudden changes in appetite or eating
habits
Always feeling tired or slow
Being restless, anxious, or worried
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Not being able to concentrate or think
clearly
Feeling worthless, guilty, helpless, or
hopeless
Aches and pains with no obvious
physical cause
Thinking or talking about death or
suicide, such as saying that the world
would be better without them or that
they wish that they were dead
Giving away prized possessions or
saying good-bye to people can be signs
of suicidal thoughts or intentions
ANXIETY
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GAD Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Panic Attacks
Social Anxiety Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER (GAD)
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Plagued with worries and fears distracting them from
everyday activities
Persistent feeling or worry that something bad is going
to happen
Often perceived as chronic worriers who feel anxious
most of the time
Physical symptoms of GAD include: insomnia, stomach
aches, restlessness and fear
PANIC ATTACKS
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Often unexpected and repeated during an attack, they
experience feelings of terror that strike suddenly and
repeatedly with no warning.
Other symptoms of panic may include sweating, chest pain,
irregular heartbeats and a choking sensation.
People may also struggle with fear of experiencing another
episode
Panic attacks can lead to other phobias such as a fear of being
in places where escape would be difficult.
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
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Experiencing flashbacks, nightmares, startling easy,
withdrawing from others and being hyper-vigilant
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People surviving PTSD tend to avoid any aspect of the situation
which reminds them of the event
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May be re-experiencing the trauma rather than remembering it
SOCIAL ANXIETY
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When someone has a debilitating fear of being seen negatively
by others or humiliated by others. Often they are overwhelmed
with worry and self – consciousness about every day social
situations.
Their fear is that others will judge them, They are also
concerned that they way they look or act will lead to
embarrassment or ridicule.
In severe situations, people with social anxiety disorder avoid
social situations altogether especially if they have experienced
feeling judged or humiliated
Due to a belief it has happened before it can happen again.
EATING PROBLEMS
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Beat research – http://www.b-eat.co.uk/ with 600 young
people aged 16-25 suffering from anorexia, bullima or over
eating found that 91% said they had been bullied, while 46 %
believed that bullying had contributed to their eating disorder
My eating disorder began in high school when I used to experience homophobic bullying," says
Sam Thomas, 23, from Hove. "I would hide in the boys' toilets because that's the only place I
knew I wouldn't be found. "I used to comfort eat on anything that was in my lunchbox sandwiches, crisps, biscuits, anything I could get my hands on. I decided to make myself sick to
get the whole thing over and done with, and I realized that it brought a huge sense of relief
from all the build-up of anxieties from all the bullying and all the tension that had come from
that... it almost became like a coping mechanism.
PERSPECTIVES ON BULLYING
You witness, or hear of, serious repeated bullying which you discover is
chronic i.e. lasting longer than 3 months of a girl who is being bullied due to
her perceived sexuality. You are in a faith school.
In 5 groups: young people under 14, young people aged 14-18, parents,
teachers and senior management:
Discuss the thoughts, feelings, physical symptoms and behaviours this
evokes in you. For example; assume that you are a young person aged 14 –
how would this make you think, feel and behave ?
Hate Crime Legislation and Sub Cultures
ACTIVITY
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In pairs discuss:
What is hate and how does it emerge?
What is prejudice and how does it emerge?
Allport's Scale of
Prejudice and
Discrimination 1954
Gordon Allport
Genocide, Murder,
Suicide
Level 5 -
Level 4 - Physical Attack
Level 3 - Discrimination
Level 2 – Avoidance - Withdrawal, Avoiding
contact, Making people Invisible, acting on
prejudice
Level 1 – Antilocution: Verbal Abuse, Using Derogatory
Language, Name calling & Stereotyping.
PREJUDICE & DISCRIMINATION
Prejudice: a negative prejudgment or assumption made about
someone before or without having adequate knowledge to do so.
It is most commonly used in reference to a preconceived
judgment toward someone because of social class, gender, race,
ethnicity, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation, or other
personal traits. It is about thoughts and feelings.
Discrimination: a sociological term referring to treatment taken
toward or against an individual of a certain group. In other words,
discrimination is an actual behaviour toward someone else
HATE CRIME LEGISLATION
Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against a person or
property that is motivated by an offender's hatred of someone because
of their:
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Race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality or national origins
Religion
Gender or gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Sophie Lancaster was attacked by a number of young males in their mid teens, as a result of severe head injuries
she went into a coma, never regained consciousness and died 13 days later. The police said the attack may have
been linked to the couple wearing gothic fashion and being members of the Goth sub-culture. The sentencing judge
correctly referred to the case as a hate crime and in doing so highlighted the importance of ensuring that all
victims of crime motivated by prejudice receive the justice they deserve
The murder of Michael Causer – seriously assaulted “a sustained and brutal
attack leaving him with a fractured skull and swollen brain” whilst he lay
sleeping. The attack was due to his sexual orientation.
The murder of Anthony Walker aged 18 - Anthony was racially abused as he
waited at a bus stop, he then walked away to go to another bus stop, but was
ambushed by the same perpetrators – he was murdered with an ice axe into
his skull.
DISABILITY HATE CRIME
Research by the National Autistic Society found that:
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81% of respondents to their survey said they had experienced
verbal abuse
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47% reported that they have been victims of a physical assault
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Just 6% of respondents said they had not experienced any form
of bullying or abuse because of their disability
Just under 800 people took part in the survey, conducted late
last year
ACTIVITY
Who has worked with what anit-bullying approaches in the past?
In small groups consider:
• What did you do?
• What was effective about it?
• What did you/other professionals value about it?
• What did children and young people value about it?
• What did parents value about it?
AN ANTI-BULLYING CULTURE
Ofsted undertook research on 37 Primary Schools and
19 Secondary schools in 2011 in rural and urban
areas schools of differing sizes. They held formal
discussion with 1357 pupils and 797 staff.
THE BEST SCHOOLS
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Culture and ethos in the schools very positive
Expectations and rules clearly spelled out how pupils should interact
Respect for individual differences had a high profile
Pupils developed empathy, understood the effect that bullying could have on people and
took responsibility for trying to prevent bullying
The way in which the schools planned and delivered the curriculum helped a great deal to
bring about these positive attitudes because it gave pupils a wide range of opportunities to
develop their knowledge and understanding of diversity and an assortment of strategies to
protect themselves from bullying.
These schools recorded bullying incidents carefully and analysed them to look for trends
and patterns
They then used this information to plan the next steps
The action they took was firm and often imaginative
If pupils had been bullied then they felt very confident that action was taken and it stopped
promptly
Governors were well informed and questioning about bullying
ITS NOT ALL ABOUT SCHOOL
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Tensions may exist between the culture schools were trying to instil and maintain
and aspects of the culture in the wider communities around the school
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These tensions could relate to how people spoke to and treated each other
generally, or to more specific attitudes towards particular groups.
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The schools sometimes had systematically to tackle racist, homophobic and
aggressive attitudes that existed among parents and carers and in parts of their
wider community that were in serious conflict with the schools values.
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Some schools had achieved significant success by working with parents and
carers and members of the community to reach a better understanding
WHAT WORKS WELL?
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Developing friendship groups and the importance of friendships
Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
Emotional Literacy
Conflict Resolution
Peer Mentors
Bullying policy development
Anger awareness
Anxiety awareness and strategies
Young peoples engagement and participation - using their experiences
of bullying and how to deal with it
Awareness of speech and language difficulties
Working within communities and families developing understanding: e.g.
intergenerational / cultural work
GOOD PRACTICE
Good practice film: Edith Neville Primary School Anti-bullying – YouTube
HOMOPHOBIC BULLYING – AN EXAMPLE
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Acknowledge and identify the problem of bullying, and specifically homophobic
bullying
Develop policies which recognise the existence of homophobic bullying
Promote a positive social environment
Address staff training needs
Provide information and support for children and young people
Include addressing bullying, including homophobic bullying, and sexual
orientation into any curriculum programme planning
Feel able to use outside expertise
Encourage positive role models
Do not make assumptions
Celebrate achievements
Adapted from ‘Safe to Learn - Preventing and responding to homophobic bullying in schools’ (DCSF 2007)
ACTION PLAN
What actions can you take under each of the 10
headings to be more effective in developing an
anti-bullying culture?
STIGMA, MENTAL HEALTH AND CHILDREN
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Children acquire attitudes about mental health at an early age (Wahl, 2002)
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‘Stigma is a societal reaction which singles out certain attributes, evaluates them as
undesirable and devalues the persons who possess them’ (Miles, 1981)
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‘ Stigma can increase the complexity of mental health problems and the impact they
have on the individual (Social Inclusion Unit, 2004)
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‘Stigma operates at a number of levels within individuals, families, education
systems, healthcare, the media and social policy’ (Hinshaw, 2005)
Martin: (Aged 7) “ People who are mental are horrible…”
William: (aged 10) “I feel ashamed and can’t talk about it…I have a dark
secret…”
(Gale 2006 – Children’s and Parent’s/Carer’s perceptions of mental health and stigma – PhD Research
Study)
THE COST OF STIGMA
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The stigma associated with mental health problems is a major
barrier to help-seeking in young people (Corrigan 2000)
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Children and young people, and their parents more often turn
to friends and family for help rather than to health
professionals (Evans et al 2005)
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Most young people who have mental health problems do not
seek help – their parents are also reluctant to seek help for
them (Gale 2007)
Why?
• Fear?
• Misunderstanding?
• The fine line?
• Mental Health problems belong to
others?
• Them and Us?
• Denial?
• Feeling vulnerable?
TACKLING STIGMA
To download the Tackling Stigma toolkit devised
by Fiona Warner Gale go to:
http://www.chimat.org.uk/tacklingstigma