Copyright Malvin Porter, Jr. 2010 - acumen - The University of ...

Copyright Malvin Porter, Jr. 2010 - acumen - The University of ... Copyright Malvin Porter, Jr. 2010 - acumen - The University of ...

acumen.lib.ua.edu
from acumen.lib.ua.edu More from this publisher
15.08.2013 Views

aggression and that they differentiate between physical and relational aggression in their moral judgments. Girls are more morally sensitive to the effects of relational aggressive; whereas, boys are more morally sensitive physical aggression. Recommendations for Future Research There is still much to learn about the factors that influence children’s thinking about bully victimization. With this in mind, the following recommendations are made for future research related to this study. First, modifications need to be made to the CBVS. To start, children need to be clearly instructed to select an action that they would most likely take if they were the story character. Second, children should also be instructed to choose the most right or moral action. Next, the justification categories need to be refined and a fourth category needs to be added called Aggressive/Retaliatory Justifications such as “I’m doing this to get back at the mean kids” or “I have a right to get back at the mean kids.” Future analysis should make use of a within story design such that each child’s responses will be analyzed within each story. This will give four data sets for each child participant; the fact that child participants will act as their own control should provides a way of reducing the amount of error arising from natural variance between individual children. One advantage will be that children can be evaluated within each of the four story types in order to study the effect that each story has on children’s Action Choice responses and their Justification Choice responses. Additionally, within-story design increases statistical power and reduces error variance associated with individual differences such as children’s moods or task variables (e.g., time of day, temperature in the room), which will differ across levels of the independent variable. Statistical efficiency of within-story design makes it easier to detect differences across the levels 154

of the independent variable such as Action Choices and Justification Choices because each child’s responses for story 1 will be compared to that of stories 2, 3, and 4. The resulting variances between each story will reflect relative strengths and weaknesses of each story. In contrast, a fundamental disadvantage of the within-story design is "carryover effect" (e.g., practice, memory imprinting, fatigue, boredom), which means that the a child’s responses in one story may effect performance in the other three stories, thus creating a confounding extraneous variable that varies with the independent Action and Justification Choice variables. Another study should include specific gender differentiation with respect to Story Character Roles and Story Forms of Victimization among the population sample. Still other interesting study should attempt to identify clusters of children who sometimes justify aggressive actions with prosocial justifications. One research objective should correlates with this pattern of reasoning, such as children’s intellectual ability, bully/victim group membership, gender, roles, or forms of victimization? Possible Interventions for CBVS Inclusion Findings from this study have implications for implementing effective interventions aimed at reducing rates of bully victimization among children in elementary schools. First, an important point of intervention would be to make children aware of how they rationalize their aggressive actions in response to bully victimization. Social Support Intervention Programs In contrast to supporting or reinforcing bullying, peers may also play an important role in discouraging bullying or minimizing the negative effects of being victimized by bullies. This is because peers who defend against bullying may instrumental in promoting ant bullying behaviors (Sutton & Smith, 1999). Research highlights the value of uninvolved children or “bystanders” 155

<strong>of</strong> the independent variable such as Action Choices and Justification Choices because each<br />

child’s responses for story 1 will be compared to that <strong>of</strong> stories 2, 3, and 4. <strong>The</strong> resulting<br />

variances between each story will reflect relative strengths and weaknesses <strong>of</strong> each story.<br />

In contrast, a fundamental disadvantage <strong>of</strong> the within-story design is "carryover effect"<br />

(e.g., practice, memory imprinting, fatigue, boredom), which means that the a child’s responses<br />

in one story may effect performance in the other three stories, thus creating a confounding<br />

extraneous variable that varies with the independent Action and Justification Choice variables.<br />

Another study should include specific gender differentiation with respect to Story<br />

Character Roles and Story Forms <strong>of</strong> Victimization among the population sample.<br />

Still other interesting study should attempt to identify clusters <strong>of</strong> children who sometimes<br />

justify aggressive actions with prosocial justifications. One research objective should correlates<br />

with this pattern <strong>of</strong> reasoning, such as children’s intellectual ability, bully/victim group<br />

membership, gender, roles, or forms <strong>of</strong> victimization?<br />

Possible Interventions for CBVS Inclusion<br />

Findings from this study have implications for implementing effective interventions<br />

aimed at reducing rates <strong>of</strong> bully victimization among children in elementary schools.<br />

First, an important point <strong>of</strong> intervention would be to make children aware <strong>of</strong> how they<br />

rationalize their aggressive actions in response to bully victimization.<br />

Social Support Intervention Programs<br />

In contrast to supporting or reinforcing bullying, peers may also play an important role in<br />

discouraging bullying or minimizing the negative effects <strong>of</strong> being victimized by bullies. This is<br />

because peers who defend against bullying may instrumental in promoting ant bullying behaviors<br />

(Sutton & Smith, 1999). Research highlights the value <strong>of</strong> uninvolved children or “bystanders”<br />

155

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!