How can we prevent and reduce bullying amongst university students How can we prevent and reduce bullying amongst university students? Helen Cowie (Regent’s University London) and Carrie-Anne Myers (City University London) C

INTRODUCTION There is a growing literature on the theme of bullying among university students; But it is still under-researched and there is very little systematic action on the part of universities to reduce or prevent it; Students’ Unions have pioneered surveys to establish what is happening; The present paper explores some of the approaches that might be effective.

THE NATURE OF BULLYING AT UNIVERSITY Spreading nasty rumours on the grounds of race, disability, gender, sexual orientation; Ridiculing or demeaning a person; Social exclusion; Unwelcome sexual advances; Stalking; Threatening someone, either directly or online; Revealing personal information about a person that was shared in confidence.

INCIDENCE OF BULLYING Lappalainen et al. (2011) in a survey of 2805 Finnish students found that around 5% reported being bullied; around half of victims and half of perpetrators had been involved in bullying at school; Studies of medical and nursing students reveal significantly higher rates of bullying; e.g. Farley et al. (2015) found around 50% of medical students reported being cyberbullied during their training. Björklund (2015) reports that university students are more at risk of being stalked than other young people, with rates ranging from 11% or over.

NUS SURVEYS 2012 NUS survey identified a culture of laddishness at UK universities; “…a pack mentality evident in activities such as sport and heavy alcohol consumption and ‘banter’ which was often sexist, misogynist and homophobic…” (Phipps & Young, 2013); Bullying behaviour was embedded in a culture that glorifies violent, disrespectful attitudes towards women; 2014 NUS survey found that 1 in 5 LGB and 1 in 3 trans students reported at least one form of bullying on campus; many reported that they had to pass a ‘straight’ in order to protect themselves from homophobia and transphobia.

INTERVENTIONS Awareness raising; Peer support; Counselling; Anti-bullying policies; Recourse to the law.

AWARENESS RAISING Some individual students are more at risk of being bullied because of their previous experiences at school; There is considerable continuity in abusive peer relationships from school to university and probably through to the workplace; Need to have greater understanding of the processes through which individuals integrate or fail to integrate into the networks of the student community; Need to have much greater awareness of the emotional, social and cognitive risks of bullying.

PEER SUPPORT Student Unions have pioneered research into the issue and made recommendations about what can be done to address the problem; Such peer support is invaluable but it needs support from the university authorities; Need more systems in place to identify the issue at an early stage, have clear lines of communication for reporting; Need too to empower peers to take action of different types.

COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY Student health services are already alert to the outcomes of bullying; Need more resources to provide adequate care for the targets of bullying; Need too to be part of the wider process of heightening awareness of the damaging effects of bullying.

ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES AND SYSTEMS Anti-bullying policies exist in some universities but student perception is that the authorities provide very little protection; e.g. Kenworthy (2010) in US survey of victims of cyberbullying found that most did not report it; only 14% found that their complaint resulted in disciplinary action against the perpetrator; Policies hampered by perceptions that bullying is just a prank that is not to be taken seriously; little evidence for nationwide policies across universities; Campbell (2015) reviewed policies in 20 Australian universities and found that only 7 specifically mentioned bullying in their policies; in the majority, the policy was not prominent on their website and was hard to find; this indicated a lack of commitment to prevention and intervention; many were embedded in health and safety for employed staff rather than for students.

ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES AND SYSTEMS Need for policies that send a clear message that bullying is unacceptable; Need for systems that challenge misogyny, homophobia, racism; universities need to be more proactive in celebrating diversity and difference; should show more concern for actively promoting inclusion and promoting tolerance; Need for training of staff – lecturers, tutors, guest speakers; staff need to know when to refer an issue on to the relevant authorities; staff need to understand procedures, including sanctions where other interventions are ineffective

LEGAL SANCTIONS Lack of policies banning bullying – a potential time bomb if a student should take the university to court (Campbell, 2015) More emphasis on safety of staff than of students; Very little acknowledgement of the potential harm (physical and psychological) that bullying can cause to students; Practices such as FROSH and hazing to help new students settle in can cross the line from fun to abuse and intimidation.

LEGAL SANCTIONS Essential to consider systemic influences on bullying that may be embedded in the culture of the university; Shariff (2015) argues that cyberbullying (e.g. posting offensive material online) appears to be rooted in a culture of rape enforced through the policing apparatus of slut-shaming; the behaviour is the symptom, not the the root of the problem; Shariff argues that it is essential to improve public legal education about the differences among freedom of speech, free expression, safety, privacy, protection and regulation

CONCLUSION Need for acceptance of the issue and the urgent necessity to address it rather than deny it; this requires open dialogue and debate; Need for more systems and policies to address the issue; Need for more understanding of the point where sanctions and recourse to the law should be in place; Need for more counselling resources as well as systems for promoting empathy and inclusion across the university; Promotion of greater understanding of social relationships during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

CONCLUSION Need for more research, both qualitative and quantitative, to include large scale surveys of bullying and cyber-bullying amongst university students; Research into the problem could be part of wider concern to address bullying across the lifespan from school, through university to the workplace.

CONCLUSION Cowie, H. & Myers, C-A (2015) Bullying Among University Students: Cross-National Perspectives. London: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/books/d etails/9781138809260/