Child and Adolescent Wellbeing and Violence Prevention in Schools

This invaluable book offers a comprehensive guide for educators in understanding and promoting wellbeing and violence prevention initiatives in schools and communities. It translates research and theory into practice with a strong evidence-based application.

The book is presented in five thematic sections, namely: culture and wellbeing; young females and wellbeing; bullying; cyberbullying and student violence; interventions to promote wellbeing; and interventions to promote violence prevention. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the field and a commentary chapter draws the five themes together.

Written by experienced researchers and educators, each of the 21 chapters provides practical information and research on school, classroom or community applications, trends and issues in the field, and practical ideas for wellbeing and violence prevention measures. Issues of culture, gender and youth voice are specifically addressed.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

List of contributors

List of figures

List of tables

Preface Marie-Louise Coleira Preca, the President of Malta

1.Challenges in promoting wellbeing and addressing violence through schools Shelley Hymel, Lindsay Starosta, Randip Gill and Angela Low

Section 1: Culture and Wellbeing

2. Country and wellbeing: Ngarrindjeri speaking as country Steve Hemming and Daryle Rigney

3. Indigenous Australian youth, identity, Rap/Hip Hop: A tool for wellbeing and ethical care Faye Rosas Blanch

4. Measuring subjective wellbeing: Findings from Assam wellbeing survey 2013-14Udoy Saikia, James Chalmers and Gouranga Dasvarma

5. Giving voice: Creative practice and a living lab approach Alison Wotherspoon and Barbara Spears

Section 2: Young Females and Wellbeing

6. Bullying and blooming: Addressing the challenges faced by adolescent girls experiencing the early onset of puberty Donna Swift

7. Girls’ diminishing wellbeing across the adolescent years Grace Skrzypiec and Helen Askell-Williams

8. Eve-teasing in the guise of school bullying and cyberbullying Damanjit Sandhu

9. Adolescent transgression behaviour: Gender differences Grace Skrzypiec

Section 3: Bullying, Cyberbullying and Student Violence

10. Adults’ perceptions of bullying in early childhood Marilyn Campbell and Natalie Morgan

11. Early childhood knowledge and understanding of bullying: An approach for early childhood prevention Lesley-anne Ey and Barbara Spears

12. "It’s just teasing": Responding to conflict in remote Australian schools John Guenther, Samantha Disbray and Sam Osborne

13. The copying of bystanders with cyberbullying in an adolescent population Georges Steffgen, Andreia P. Costa, and Phillip Slee

Section 4: Interventions to Promote Wellbeing

14. "Surfing the Waves": Building resilience to promote children’s mental health Carmel Cefai

15. Ten ways schools can boost child and adolescent wellbeing when parents separate Jamie Lee

16. Enhancing the wellbeing of young people: The co-creation of a youth mental health space Kristy Koehne, Allison Hutton, Shane Hough and Christopher Slee

17. Stop, connect and collaborate: A school based approach to improve student wellbeing Nina Mekisic

Section 5: Interventions to Promote Violence Prevention

18. Framework for prevention: Early interventions to address adolescent violence Jeanette Stott, Rosalie O’Connor, Trevor Cresswell, Mary McKenna, Robin Swalling, Kay Buckley, Sheila Davidson, and Sally Fordham

19. A model for managing student violence John Maratos

20. A program logic framework designed to strengthen the impact and fidelity of wellbeing and behavioural interventions Ivan Raymond

21. Effectiveness of an intervention program for teenage girls with self-harm in Adelaide, South Australia Mubarak, A.R., Joanna Zeitz and Phillip Slee

Commentary Chapter

22. Commentary Catherine Blaya

Index

"This is a vibrant text, offering an impressive diversity of cultures and voices, including children's and young people's voices, all housed within the broad themes of wellbeing and violence. There is also a strong thematic diversity across the book on many emerging themes regarding wellbeing. This is a really valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines and professions engaging with the needs of children and especially vulnerable children."
- Dr. Paul Downes, Associate Professor of Education (Psychology), Dublin City University, Ireland, Member of European Commission's Network of Experts on the Social Aspects of Education and Training (NESET II) Coordinating Committee

"Mental health difficulties among youth are widespread and on the increase so this is a timely book. Phillip Slee, Grace Skrzypiec and Carmel Cefai, the editors of Child and Adolescent Well-being and Violence Prevention in Schools, are acknowledged experts in the field and have built on this knowledge to create an original and well-structured book that identifies distinct themes, each with an important perspective to offer. The contributors do not shy away from the immensity of the topic but rather provide new evidence for interventions that have been shown to be successful at different levels - individual, classroom, whole school, community and in the wider political arena - in resolving the underlying causes of mental distress and violence during childhood and adolescence. The fact that the authors come from a range of disciplines and from different cultural contexts greatly enhances the strength of this book and deepens the reader’s insight into the structures and systems that promote well-being rather than self-destruction and violence. A strong sense of optimism pervades Child and Adolescent Well-being and Violence Prevention in Schools through the commitment of the authors to create schools where the child’s voice is heard, to empower members of school, the community and the wider society to make critical changes that will enhance the well-being of our young people and, most crucially, to give all children the right and strength to continue this process once they become adults. This book will inspire parents, teachers, academics, educational psychologists, criminologists, social workers and politicians and all those involved with youth to collaborate in order to create better opportunities for young people across the world."
- Helen Cowie, University of Surrey