Understanding school bullying: Insights from practitioners and families in Türkiye

Abstract

Although school bullying is a widely studied issue in academic research, it still retains a significant place in the lives of children and, consequently, in society. Türkiye, on the other hand, is among the countries with the highest rates of this bullying issue. In this regard, this research aimed to address school bullying from a social work perspective by exploring the perceptions and experiences of school practitioners (teachers and school counselors), social workers, and families regarding the bullying concept, their anti-bullying intervention strategies, and challenges they face while addressing the interventions in Türkiye. This research utilized a qualitative research design to gather information encompassing the detailed experiences of multiple practitioners and parents via semistructured interviews. The thesis' methodology section also included a document analysis on bullying in Türkiye for comparison with the interview results. Results showed that although perceptions of bullying vary among participant groups, the most frequently perceived risk of bullying by participants is family-related factors. Meanwhile, three intervention strategies that have stood out the most are individual consultation, family involvement, and disciplinary sanction-based strategies. The challenges encountered range from the normalization of bullying to a lack of resources. Also, the results of the documentation analysis and interviews highlight both a policy-practice gap and a scarcity of disciplinary sanction-based practices. Theoretical frameworks underlined that there is a need for a holistic, multilevel, transdisciplinary approach to solve this problem in Türkiye. The implications of this study extend for all actors involved in the ecological environment of bullying, including future research and policies.