Ana Almeida

Moral Disengagement, Normative Beliefs of Peer Group, and Attitudes Regarding Roles in Bullying

This article examines how moral disengagement, empathy, belief in a just world, and peer group normative beliefs regarding the roles of bully and defender of the victim are associated with attitudes regarding the roles of the bully and the defender of the victim. Two hundred ninety-two students from grades 6–9 participated. Results showed that more positive attitudes regarding role of bully were predicted by higher levels of moral disengagement, whereas more positive attitudes regarding the role of defender of the victim were predicted by lower levels of moral disengagement. The perception of the normative beliefs of the peer group also predicted the attitudes of participants regarding the respective role.

Del maltrato y otros conceptos relacionados con la agresión entre escolares, y su estudio psicológico

Resumen El artículo, de carácter introductorio al resto de artículos de este dossier, consta de dos partes diferenciadas. En la primera, se pretende dilucidar el significado de conceptos relacionados con el maltrato y la agresión entre iguales en el marco de la escuela a partir de las definiciones procedentes de una variedad de estudios realizados desde diferentes enfoques. En la segunda parte, se reflexiona acerca de algunas líneas recientes que caracterizan el estudio psicológico del maltrato entre iguales. En este sentido, se señala la necesidad de no quedarse en un análisis individual delfenómeno, de atender a los aspectos cognitivos, menos estudiados que las propias conductas, y de utilizar métodos cualitativos más útiles para ese propósito, en particular los procedimientos narratives.

Representaciones acerca del maltrato entre iguales, atribuciones emocionales y percepción de estrategias de cambio a partir de un instrumento narrativo: SCAN-Bullying

Resumen A partir de intereseses teóricos y metodológicos se diseñó un instrumento en forma de historieta gráfica que narra una relación de maltrato por abuso de poder en la escuela, como punto de partida para explorar las representaciones acerca del fenómeno. Dos equipos, portugués y español, entrevistaron individualmente a un total de 120 niños y niñas de 9, 11 y 13 años, equiparados en edad, género y país, acerca de distintos aspectos de las relaciones que ilustra la historia. Se presentan aquí los relativos a la naturaleza de la relación, las atribuciones emocionales y la percepción de estrategias de resolución. Si bien se identifica desde muy pronto la relación de maltrato que subyace a la historia, el patrón de atribución emocional es diferente según la edad, el género, el papel delpersonajey la perspectiva que se adopta como víctima o agresor. Las estrategias propuestas muestran la relevancia de las de carácter cognitivo, así como la influencia de la edad y del objetivo-resolver el problema o aliviar el malestar emocional-, al acudir en busca de adultos o de iguales.

Introduction: Evidence-based parent education programmes to promote positive parenting

This paper introduces the context and contributions of this special issue. The essence of promoting positive parenting is seeking not only to reduce the impact of risk factors, but also to increase that of protective factors, by reinforcing the parenting role. The paper makes clear that this aim is served only by developing evidence-based family education programmes aimed at supporting positive parenting. The special issue offers a broad range of such programmes from several countries.

Parent education interventions: Results from a national study in Portugal

Parenting education programmes are becoming widespread practices and are being recognized by the scientific community as promising interventions for preventing child maltreatment. However, a diversity of programme objectives and implementation conditions can be related to different outcomes in parental competencies and child adjustment. In this paper we present data concerning the effects of different parent education interventions developed in Portugal. Five hundred one participants participating in 56 interventions were evaluated using a pre- and post-test design. Analyses were designed to determine the participant and programme characteristics that were associated with intervention outcomes, as indicated by univariate and covariate test results and respective effect sizes. After controlling for pre-test results, significant and positive intervention effects were found for parental stress, effective parenting attitudes (i.e., empathic responding, use of punitive discipline, and endorsement of parental roles), perception of the informal social support network and child behavioural and emotional difficulties. These positive outcomes are associated with some parental characteristics (educational level and child protection referrals) as well as with a number of programme characteristics (e.g., length of programme, existence of a manual, transportation, specific training in the programme). Discussion is focused on the positive effects of interventions and the role of the identified moderating factors as well as their implications for the development of parent education programmes.

A script-cartoon narrative of bullying in children and adolescents

Peer bullying in schools has become a common topic of research. Following the pioneering work of Dan Olweus1 in Scandinavia, large-scale surveys were administered throughout Europe to gather a picture of the incidence of bullying according to age, gender, school size and other demographic factors2. Data have revealed a hidden reality largely ignored by adults. These surveys have made use of questionnaires, which were unquestionably demonstrated to be reasonably quick sources of a vast amount of information on general developmental trends and gender differences in the bullying phenomenon, but rather limited as a tool for studying children’s and adolescents’ understanding of bullying interpersonal relationships. For these reasons, the need to explore new issues led to the integration of new methods in order to reach a deeper understanding of peer bullying to be used for a more efficient intervention. Children’s and adolescents’ views of the phenomenon, its causes and consequences, and how to cope with it should be a necessary starting point to devise meaningful interventions.

Norms regarding secondary victimization of bullying victims: Do they differ according to the victim’s categorization?

Two studies with a 2 valence of the image (positive, negative) x 2 victims category (ingroup; outgroup) between-subjects design, investigated the existence of prescriptive norms regarding secondary victimization of bullying victims as well as the influence of the categorization of the victim on those same prescriptive norms among 7th graders. Study 1 addressed a scenario of physical bullying. Study 2 addressed a scenario of verbal bullying combined with social exclusion. Results showed that norms prescribe that the ingroup victim of physical bullying should be the least secondarily victimized. Furthermore it was found that for both types of bullying a positive image can be conveyed by secondarily victimizing more an outgroup victim than an ingroup victim.

Um discurso a duas vozes: potencialidades de um estudo interpretativo sobre lei e institucionalização

This study is based on the content analysis of interviews done with 15 young males institutionalized in a Re-Education Center in Portugal for offensive behavior and conflict with the law. The technique of generating discourse structure, used as a communication validity tool, allows the definition of law and institutionalization as the main categories. The main goal is to describe the social representations youngsters build about the categories, upon which the researcher performs her own interpretative work. The analyses revealed that youngsters conceive law in terms of its legal consequences, while perceiving institutionalization as an educational measure, in terms of their social rehabilitation, but also referring to it as a punishment element. This study aims at accounting for the potentialities of the interpretative approach concerning research and intervention.

Knowledge Sharing in Industrialization Project Management Practices

Facing today’s complex and dynamic business environments, many organizations, especially those working in the new product development field, adopt a project-based approach to become more effective and flexible in managing change. Nevertheless, managing complex projects requires well identified, defined, yet customized practices. This becomes even more significant when the project managers are newcomer employees, so that they get rapidly acquainted with company’s specific practices. The case study research methodology was applied, by using direct observation and document analysis, to identify the industrialization project management practices at a plant of a first tear automotive industry supplier. Core processes of Product Engineering Process and Project Management, the main used tools, and activities performed by industrialization project managers were identified, systemized and compiled in a workbook, with the purpose of being a guide and a work tool for new industrialization project managers.