Cunningham et al. (2016)'s study, titled "What Limits the Effectiveness of Antibullying Programs? A Thematic Analysis of the Perspective of Students," examines the opinions and beliefs young students have towards antibullying programs in their schools. This study points out some significant flaws in current antibullying measures, and provides insight into why students personally believe these measures are failing. The results of this study emphasize the importance of reforming and redesigning antibullying programs so that they can run more effectively and receive a more positive reaction from the intended audiences.

The study centers on 97 Grade 5 to 8 students, 38 of which are male and 59 of which are female.These participants were recruited from 12 sociodemographically diverse schools in a Canadian community. The research was conducted in the format of thirteen 45-minute focus groups lead by social workers who had been formally trained in conducting interviews. Boys and girls were placed into separate focus groups so as not to influence responses. Thematic analysis was then conducted to determine any recurring themes or ideas in the collected data, and the sample size of the study was large enough to warrant the examination of response patterns across groups. Based off of the thematic analysis, the results are organized into themes such as "Presentations and Posters Often Fail to Engage Students" (Cunningham et al., 2016, p. 599). These themes are broken down even further into sub themes, such as "Boring presentations are of limited effectiveness" (Cunningham et al., 2016, p. 599). Some of the themes provided are somewhat intuitive, such as unengaging presentations failing to reach students and teachers administering justice unfairly. One particularly important theme that reoccurs throughout the study is the theory of psychological reactance. Many of the students in the study group are at the age where they are beginning to become aware of their desire for independence and autonomy, and feel that being told not to do something (such as bullying), limits their ability to make their own decisions. This defines psychological reactance, which proves itself to be a guiding principle of the results of this study.

Through this study, we can gain a better understanding of how kids react to antibullying programs and what adults can do to make these programs more effective. It is oftentimes difficult for adults to remember what it was like to be a kid, and so direct input from kids is critical to creating programs that work. Many of the opinions that the participants were expressing are accurate and excellent examples of why these programs don't always work when put into practical application. It would be interesting to replicate this study in the United States or other parts of the world to see how those students respond. It is noted in the study that European antibullying programs witness more success rates than their Canadian counterparts, but it would be interesting to know if this speaks to a specific region in Europe or if this is a broad generalization. Studies in a diverse assortment of European schools would perhaps provide better insight.

After reading this study in its entirety, please respond to at least two of the following questions, each answer citing an excerpt from the study, and reply to your classmates throughout the week:

1. Does the choice of methods seem effective or comprehensive to their fullest extent? Why or why not?

2. Other than the limitations specified, what other limiting factors are there for this study?

3. Besides the examples provided, how do you think antibullying programs and measures could be more effective?

References

Cunningham, C. E., Mapp, C., Rimas, H., Cunningham, L., Mielko, S., Vaillancourt, T., & Marcus, M. (2016). What limits the effectiveness of antibullying programs? A thematic analysis of the perspective of students.Psychology of Violence, 6(4), 596-606. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039984Links to an external site.