Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T14:53:30.833Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Exploration of Strength of Ethnic Identity, Acculturation and Experiences of Bullying and Victimisation in Australian School Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2013

Rachel M. Roberts  and
Feda Ali
Rachel M. Roberts
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Feda Ali
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

School bullying and victimisation is a pervasive problem within schools. Research within Australian schools has not considered the relationship that ethnicity, strength of ethnic identity or acculturation orientation may have with bullying and victimisation. A self-report measure was completed by 421 children (Mean age = 11.8 years, SD = 0.6). Ethnic majority children reported experiencing more direct and indirect victimisation than ethnic minority children. For ethnic minority children, weaker ethnic identity was associated with direct victimisation. Ethnic minority children who adopted an assimilation acculturation orientation experienced more direct victimisation in comparison with ethnic minority children who adopted an integration acculturation orientation. Ethnicity and acculturation are important aspects to consider when understanding bullying and victimisation in Australian schools and although ethnic majority children were more likely to report victimisation, weak ethnic identity and assimilation acculturation orientation leaves ethnic minority children particularly vulnerable to direct victimisation. This should be considered in the application of anti-bullying programmes within schools.

Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 6 - 14
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2006a). A picture of the nation: The statistician's report on the 2006 Census (Publication No. 2070.0). Canberra: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2006b). 2006 Census tables: South Australia, ancestry by country of birth of parents – South Australia (Table No. 20680). Canberra: ABS.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] (2006c). 2006 Census QuickStats: South Australia. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from www.censusdata.abs.gov.au.Google Scholar
Bauman, S. (2008). The association between gender, age, and acculturation, and depression and overt and relational victimisation among Mexican American elementary students. Journal of Early Adolescence, 28, 528–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergeron, N., & Schneider, B.H. (2005). Explaining cross-national differences in peer-directed aggression: A quantitative synthesis. Aggressive Behavior, 31 (2), 116–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, J.W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46 (1), 5–68.Google Scholar
Berry, J.W. (1998). Acculturative stress. In Organista, P.B., Chun, K.M., & Marin, G., (Eds.), (Readings in ethnic psychology (pp. 113–117). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bhopal, R. (2004). Glossary of terms relating to ethnicity and race: for reflection and debate. Journal of Epidemiological Community Health, 58 (6), 441–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bottomley, G. (1997). Identification: Ethnicity, gender and culture. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 18 (1), 41–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branch, C.W., Tayal, P., & Triplett, C. (2000). The relationship of ethnic identity and ego identity status among adolescents and young adults. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24 (6), 777–790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britto, P.R. (2008). Who am I? Ethnic identity formation of Arab Muslim children in contemporary U.S. society. Journal American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47 (8), 853–857.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, C.R., Williams, K.R., Guerra, N.G., Kim, T.E., & Sadek, S. (2010). Predictors of bullying and victimisation in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation. School Psychology Quarterly, 25 (2), 65–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crick, N.R., & Grotpeter, J.K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66 (3), 710–722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dandy, J., Durkin, K., McEvoy, P., Barber, B.L., & Houghton, S. (2008). Psychometric properties of Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) scores with Australian adolescents from diverse ethnocultural groups. Journal of Adolescence, 31 (3), 323–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delfabbro, P., Winefield, T., Trainor, S., Dollard, M., Anderson, S., Metzer, J., & Hammarstrom, A. (2006). Peer and teacher bullying/victimisation of South Australian secondary school students; Prevalence and psychosocial profiles. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76 (1), 71–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Education and Children's Services (2007). Countering racism policy and guidelines. Retrieved from www.decs.sa.gov.au/policy/pages/OSPP/policy_indexGoogle Scholar
Eslea, M., & Mukhtar, K. (2000). Bullying and racism among Asian school children in Britain. Educational Research, 42 (2), 207–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eslea, M., & Rees, J. (2001). At what age are children most likely to be bullied at school? Aggressive Behavior, 27 (6), 419–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Espelage, D.L., & Swearer, S.M. (2003). Research on school bullying and victimisation: What have we learned and where do we go from here? School Psychology Review, 32 (3), 365–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.Google Scholar
Fosados, R., McClain, A., Ritt-Olson, A., Sussman, S., Soto, D., Baezconde-Garbantani, L., & Unger, J.B. (2007). The influence of acculturation on drug and alcohol use in a sample of adolescents. Addictive Behaviours, 32 (12), 2990–3004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, S., & Juvonen, J. (2002). Ethnicity, peer harassment, and adjustment in middle school: An exploratory study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22 (2), 173–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodges, E.V.E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W.M. (1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimisation. Developmental Psychology, 35 (1), 94–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodges, E.V., Malone, M.J., & Perry, D.G. (1997). Individual risk and social risk as interacting determinants of victimisation in the peer group. Developmental Psychology, 33 (6), 1032–1039.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hugo, G. (1995). Understanding where immigrants live. Canberra: Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Kvernmo, S., & Heyerdahl, S. (2003). Acculturation strategies and ethnic identity as predictors of behavior problems in Arctic minority adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42 (1), 57–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lehman, D.R., Chiu, C., & Schaller, M. (2004). Psychology and culture. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 689–714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lonner, W.J., & Malpass, R.S. (1994). Psychology and Culture. Boston; Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Manthorpe, J., & Hettiaratchy, P. (1993). Ethnic minority elders in the UK. International Review of Psychiatry, 5 (2–3), 171–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monks, C.P., Ortega-Ruiz, R., & Rodriguez-Hidalgo, A.J. (2008). Peer victimisation in multicultural schools in Spain and England. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5 (4), 507–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monks, C.P., & Smith, P.K. (2006). Definitions of bullying: Age differences in understanding of the term, and the role of experience. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24 (4), 801–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mouttapa, M., Valente, T., Gallaher, P., Rohrbach, L.A., & Unger, J.B. (2004). Social network predictors of bullying and victimization. Adolescence, 39 (154), 315–335.Google ScholarPubMed
Nansel, T.R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R.S., Ruan, W.J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal American Medical Association, 285 (16), 2094–2100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nguy, L., & Hunt, C.J. (2004). Ethnicity and bullying: A study of Australian high-school students. Educational and Child Psychology, 21 (4), 78–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Moore, M., & Kirkham, C. (2001). Self-esteem and its relationship to bullying behaviour. Aggressive Behaviour, 27 (4), 269–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paquette, J.A., & Underwood, M.K. (1999). Gender differences in young adolescents’ experiences of peer victimisation: Social and physical aggression. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45 (2), 242–266.Google Scholar
Phinney, J.S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108 (3), 499–514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phinney, J.S. (1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7 (2), 156–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phinney, J.S., Cantu, C.L., & Kurtz, D.A. (1997). Ethnic and American identity as predictors of self-esteem among African American, Latino, and white adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26 (2), 165–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigby, K. (1997). What children tell us about bullying in schools. Children Australia, 22 (2), 28–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigby, K. (2002). New Perspectives on Bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Rigby, K., & Bagshaw, D. (2001). What hurts? The reported consequences of negative interactions with peers among Australian adolescent school children. Children Australia, 26 (4), 36–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigby, K., & Slee, P.T. (1993). Dimensions of interpersonal relation among Australian children and implications for psychological well-being. Journal of Social Psychology, 133 (1), 33–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rigby, K., & Smith, P.K. (2011). Is school bullying really on the rise? Social Psychology of Education, 14 (4), 441–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivers, I., & Smith, P.K. (1994). Types of bullying behaviour and their correlates. Aggressive Behavior, 20 (5), 359–368.3.0.CO;2-J>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, R.E., Phinney, J.S., Masse, L.C., Chen, Y.R., Roberts, C.R., & Romero, A. (1999). The structure of ethnic identity of young adolescents from diverse ethnocultural groups. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19 (3), 301–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romero, A.J., Cuellar, I., & Roberts, R.E. (2000). Ethnocultural variables and attitudes toward cultural socialization of children. Journal of Community Psychology, 28 (1), 79–89.3.0.CO;2-N>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S.J., Unger, J.B., Zamboanga, B.J., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65 (4), 237–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seals, D., & Young, J. (2003). Bullying and victimisation: Prevalence and relationship to gender, grade level, ethnicity, self-esteem and depression. Adolescence, 38 (152), 735–747.Google Scholar
Siann, G., Callaghan, M., Glissov, P., Lockhart, R., Rawson, L. (1994). Who gets bullied? The effect of school, gender and ethnic group. Educational Research, 36 (2), 123–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, P.K., & Sharp, S. (1994). The problem of school bullying. In Smith, P.K. & Sharp, S., (Eds.) School bullying: Insights and perspectives (pp. 1–19). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Smorti, A., Menesini, E., & Smith, P.K. (2003). Parent's definitions of children's bullying in a five-country comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34 (4), 417–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unger, J.B., Gallaher, P., Shakib, S., Ritt-Olson, A., Palmer, P.H., & Johnson, C.A. (2002). The AIHMSA Acculturation Scale: A new measure of acculturation for adolescents in multicultural society. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22 (3), 225–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verkuyten, M. (2003). Positive and negative self esteem among ethnic minority early adolescents: Social and cultural sources and threats. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32 (4), 267–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verkuyten, M., & Thijs, J. (2002). Racist victimisation among children in the Netherlands: the effect of ethnic group and school. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 25 (2), 310–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vervoort, M.H.M., Scholte, R.H.J., & Overbeek, G. (2008). Bullying and victimisation amongst adolescents: The role of ethnicity and ethnic composition of school class. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39 (1), 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, J.W., Cen, S., Schuster, D.V., Unger, J.B., Johnson, C.A., Mouttapa, M., Schreiner, W.S., & Cruz, T.B. (2006). Longitudinal effects of pro-tobacco and anti-tobacco messages on adolescent smoking susceptibility. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 8 (3), 455–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolke, D., Woods, S., Stanford, K., & Schulz, H. (2001). Bullying and victimisation of primary school children in England and Germany: Prevalence and school factors. British Journal of Psychology, 92 (4), 673–696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar