Immigrant and Non‑immigrant Parents’ Involvement in Bullying Cases

This study aims at investigating parental involvement in bullying cases. Immigrant and non-immigrant parents are compared regarding their experience and understanding of causes of the bullying behaviour that their child is exposed to, how they experience the school’s handling of the bullying case, the home-school cooperation, and parents’ cooperation with other parents. A qualitative approach was used, and semi-structured interviews with 16 parents of targets of bullying were carried out (5 immigrant, 11 Norwegian, including two Sami parents). The targets were from primary and lower secondary school. Content analysis was conducted using the deductively developed and inductively enriched system of categories. The results of the study provided insights into parents’ experiences of a problematic school-parent collaboration, and also problematic relations to the other parents of the students involved in the respective bullying cases. Immigrant parents were more satisfied with the school than non-immigrant parents, but not with the relation to other parents. Vulnerability and ethnicity-based bullying appeared as aspects which should be paid especially attention to, regarding both implications and future research.publishedVersio

Foreldreopplevelsen : en undersøkelse av foreldres opplevelse av å ha barn med språkvansker

Bakgrunn og formål: Bakgrunn for oppgaven er en genuin interesse for barns utvikling av språk, og spesielt for de barna der språket ikke utvikler seg som man ønsker og/eller forventer. Når fokuset ble på foreldrene til disse barna og deres opplevelse av å ha et barn med språkvansker, er dette en følge av en økende oppmerksomhet fra min side rundt viktigheten av å også se foreldrenes perspektiv i arbeidet med barn med språkvansker. Formålet med oppgaven er å gi et bilde av hvordan foreldre kan oppleve det å ha et barn med språkvansker. Problemstilling: ”Hvordan kan foreldre oppleve å ha et barn med språkvansker?” Problemstillingen er operasjonalisert gjennom følgende forskningsspørsmål: - Hvordan påvirkes familiene? - Hvordan tror foreldrene barnet opplever det å ha språkvansker? - Hvordan opplever foreldrene møte med hjelpeapparatet? - Hva tenker foreldrene i forhold til fremtiden? Metode: Med utgangpunkt i prosjektets formål og problemstilling valgte jeg å benytte meg av det kvalitative semistrukturerte intervjuet som metode. Dette fordi det semistrukturerte intervjuet ga meg muligheten til å hente inn informasjon om emner som var sentrale i forhold til problemstillingen, samt følge opp og utdype informantenes svar underveis. Informantene bestod av to fedre til barn med språkvansker. Fedrene ble intervjuet i ca 40 minutter. Intervjuene ble tatt opp på diktafon og deretter transkribert. Datamaterialet ble analysert manuelt ved å sette svarene opp etter forskningsspørsmål og sammenfallende temaer ut i fra teori og med bakgrunn i en Grounded Theory tenkning. Resultater: Denne undersøkelsen gir et innblikk i hvordan det kan oppleves for foreldre å ha et barn med språkvansker og hvilke tilleggsvansker og bekymringer det kan føre med seg. Det kan se ut som barn med språkvansker har en tendens til å utvikle tilleggsvansker av sosial- og atferdsmessig art. Det være seg utagerende eller innadvendt atferd, angst og tilbaketrekking. Det kan også se ut som disse tilleggsvanskene utvikler seg ettersom barnet blir eldre. Et av barna i undersøkelsen er 7 år mens det andre barnet er for ungdom å regne og er 13 år. Dette gir at de er på ganske forskjellige stadier i livet med ulike krav og forventninger. Foreldrenes opplevelser vil også være forskjellige ut i fra hvordan barnet har det, men det ser ut til at foreldre til barn med språkvansker bekymrer seg i takt med barnas atferd og situasjon. Stress og bekymring blir fort en del av hverdagen og i denne undersøkelsen ser det ut til at det å oppleve å ikke få den hjelp man ønsker blir en viktig faktor i foreldrenes opplevelse av situasjonen. En av foreldrene i undersøkelsen opplever å ha fått den hjelpen de har trengt fra de første bekymringene meldte seg, mens den andre faren opplever å ha måttet kjempe for at sønnen skal få det de mener han trenger og har krav på siden han begynte på skolen. Å føle at du som forelder må kjempe for hvert eneste hjelpemiddel, hver eneste ekstratime og oppfølging, mens du ser at barnet ditt får det vanskeligere og vanskeligere både skolefaglig og sosialt gjør at situasjonen lett oppleves som vanskelig og stressende. Man bekymrer seg for barnets utvikling og fremtid. Konklusjoner: Foreldrene i denne undersøkelsen har ganske ulike opplevelser av det å ha et barn med språkvansker. De har ulike tanker og bekymringer rundt dagens situasjon, barnets opplevelse og fremtiden. Dette kan se ut til å grunne i to kjernekategorier; barnas ulike alder og foreldrenes opplevelse av intervensjon. Dette ser ut til å være avgjørende for hvordan foreldrene opplever situasjonen, deres tanker om fremtiden og deres bekymringer og stress knyttet til det å ha et barn med språkvansker

Feasibility and Early Outcomes of a Parent Training Intervention to Engage Parents in Children’s Media Education

The importance of parents in mediating adolescents’ Internet use is documented by many studies in the literature. Very few, however, regard interventions to support parents in this role. We wanted to assess the feasibility and the early outcomes of an Internet-based parent educational group course aimed to support parents in adolescents’ media education. The intervention was conducted with two different groups of parents (N = 20, 75% women; mean age = 46.9 y; SD = 6.3) at different time-points. The intervention included five sessions, during which information about parental mediation strategies was provided and practical exercises based on the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach were proposed. The intervention generated greater awareness, openness and flexibility and increased parental familiarity with technological devices. Overall, the proposed web-based and group-based parent training model has shown good feasibility and promising early outcomes in supporting parents as Internet mediators.publishedVersio

Two Dimensions of Moral Cognition as Correlates of Different Forms of Participation in Bullying

The present study investigated the extent to which moral disengagement and the tendency to consider moral rules as socio-conventional rules are distinct dimensions of morality, and their association with three different forms of participation in bullying (perpetrating bullying, defending the victim and passive bystander behavior). These two types of moral cognitions have been theorized in different models of morality and are usually studied independently, even if research on moral shifts (the interpretation of a moral rule transgression as a socio-conventional rule transgression) suggests some possible overlaps. A group of 276 Italian students from primary and middle school (aged 8–15) completed self-reports assessing moral disengagement, socio-conventional perception of moral rules, and participation in bullying as bully, defender of the victim and passive bystander. Results from structural equation modeling analysis confirmed that moral disengagement and socio-conventional comprehension of aggressions are separate and moderately connected morality dimensions. Controlling for age, gender and SES, only moral disengagement was positively associated with perpetrating bullying. These results point to moral disengagement as the critical component of moral cognitions to be addressed in interventions.publishedVersio

Intentions to quit upper secondary education among first generation immigrants and native Norwegians: the role of loneliness and peer victimization

Dropout from upper secondary education is a persistent educational problem, particularly among first-generation immigrant youth. This study examined factors associated with intentions to dropout to gain further insight into the process of leaving upper secondary education. The analyses of 1299 Norwegian first-year upper secondary school students’ (88% native Norwegians, 12% first-generation immigrants) self-reported intentions to quit school, loneliness, and peer victimization in school showed that first-generation immigrants experienced higher levels of loneliness than native Norwegians. In contrast, there were no differences in the levels of peer victimization and intentions to quit between native Norwegians and first-generation immigrants. However, loneliness showed a significantly stronger association with intentions to quit among first-generation immigrants. The results underscore the importance of tackling first-generation immigrants’ loneliness in school to reduce their intentions to quit upper secondary education and thus potentially improve conditions for school completion.publishedVersio

Pedagogy of discomfort to prevent and intervene against bias-based bullying

In this article, we will present bias-based bullying episodes shared by Norwegian teachers and preservice teachers when talking about the concept of “discomfort”. We also investigate how “discomfort” and “pedagogy of discomfort” as a tool are reflected in teachers’ and preservice teachers’ prevention and intervention of bias-based bullying episodes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among seven preservice teachers in their last year of teacher education and seven teachers, with 7–24 years of experience, working in Norwegian schools. Our main findings indicate that the pedagogy of discomfort might be a useful tool to prevent and intervene against bias-based bullying by using the feeling of discomfort that bias-based bullying creates in a constructive way. However, while the preservice teachers are inspired by theories of discomfort and social justice education and are motivated to try those theories out in practice, the teachers are not so familiar with these theories and tend to manage discomfort by avoiding them. By getting more familiar with the pedagogy of discomfort, teachers may improve the classroom atmosphere and make it easier to explore difficult topics in a way that creates room for differences and inclusion, strengthens students’ and teachers’ ability to engage in critical thinking, and thus lowers the risk of bias-based bullying

Peer-victimisation in multi-cultural contexts: A structural model of the effects on self-esteem and emotions / Victimización entre iguales en contextos multiculturales: un modelo estructural de sus efectos sobre la autoestima y las emociones

This study examined a structural model which integrated personal and cultural victimisation in order to identify the effects of victimisation on emotions and personal and cultural self-esteem. A sample of 1,185 adolescents from 13 secondary schools in England (n = 322) and Spain (n = 863) was recruited. Participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) conducted regarding the initial model and then Strucutural Equations Modelling (SEM). Cultural victimisation had an indirect negative effect on cultural self-esteem and in consequence on emotional state, mediated by personal victimisation and the negative impact it produced on personal self-esteem. Only for the cultural majority did the percentage of their presence constitute a mediator variable between being a victim of cultural victimisation and the effect on cultural self-esteem. The results are discussed in relation to the extant literature and the implications for the intervention/prevention work to deal with victimisation and discrimination in multi-cultural schools. [In Spanish] Resumen: El estudio examina un modelo estructural que integra la victimización personal y cultural con el fin de identificar los efectos de la victimización en las emociones y la autoestima personal y cultural. Participó una muestra de 1.185 adolescentes de 13 escuelas secundarias en Inglaterra (n = 322) y España (n = 863). Los participantes cumplimentaron una batería de cuestionarios de autoinforme. Se llevó a cabo un análisis factorial confirmatorio (CFA) sobre el modelo inicial y luego un modelado de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). La victimización cultural tuvo un efecto negativo indirecto sobre la autoestima cultural y en consecuencia sobre el estado emocional, mediado por la victimización personal y el impacto negativo que produce en la autoestima personal. Sólo para la cultura mayoritaria el porcentaje de su presencia constituye una variable mediadora entre ser una víctima de la persecución cultural y el efecto en la autoestima cultural. Los resultados se discuten en relación a la literatura existente y a las implicaciones para el trabajo de intervención/prevención para hacer frente a la victimización y a la discriminación en las escuelas multiculturales

Diversity and host associations of Myrsidea chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) in the tropical rainforest of Malaysian Borneo

The tropical rainforests of Sundaland are a global biodiversity hotspot increasingly threatened by human activities. While parasitic insects are an important component of the ecosystem, their diversity and parasite-host relations are poorly understood in the tropics. We investigated parasites of passerine birds, the chewing lice of the speciose genus Myrsidea Waterston, 1915 (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) in a natural rainforest community of Malaysian Borneo. Based on morphology, we registered 10 species of lice from 14 bird species of six different host families. This indicated a high degree of host specificity and that the complexity of the system could be underestimated with the potential for cryptic lineages/species to be present. We tested the species boundaries by combining morphological, genetic and host speciation diversity. The phylogenetic relationships of lice were investigated by analyzing the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the nuclear elongation factor alpha (EF-1α) genes sequences of the species. This revealed a monophyletic group of Myrsidea lineages from seven hosts of the avian family Pycnonotidae, one host of Timaliidae and one host of Pellorneidae. However, species delimitation methods supported the species boundaries hypothesized by morphological studies and confirmed that four species of Myrsidea are not single host specific. Cophylogenetic analysis by both distance-based test ParaFit and event-based method Jane confirmed overall congruence between the phylogenies of Myrsidea and their hosts. In total we recorded three cospeciation events for 14 host-parasite associations. However only one host-parasite link (M. carmenae and their hosts Terpsiphone affinis and Hypothymis azurea) was significant after the multiple testing correction in ParaFit. Four new species are described: Myrsidea carmenae sp.n. ex Hypothymis azurea and Terpsiphone affinis, Myrsidea franciscae sp.n. ex Rhipidura javanica, Myrsidea ramoni sp.n. ex Copsychus malabaricus stricklandii, and Myrsidea victoriae sp.n. ex. Turdinus sepiarius

Emotional problems in preadolescents in Norway: the role of gender, ethnic minority status, and home- and school-related hassles

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>"The gender gap" refers to a lifelong higher rate of emotional problems in girls, as compared to boys, that appears during adolescence. The gender gap is a well-replicated finding among older adolescents and is assumed to be a cross-cultural phenomenon. However, these cross-cultural studies have not investigated the gender gap in ethnic minorities but sampled ethnic majority adolescents in different countries. Some studies that investigated the gender gap across ethnic groups indirectly (by presenting emotional problem scores stratified by gender and ethnic group) indicate that the gender gap is less prominent or even absent among minorities. The aims of this study were to assess whether the gender gap is found in both majority and minority preadolescents, and to investigate whether a possible (gender and ethnic) group difference can be accounted for by differences in home or school hassles.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were 902 preadolescent students (aged 10 to 12) from two cities in Norway. We collected self-report measures of emotional problems and home and school hassles. Using mediated moderation analysis we tested whether the interaction effect between gender and ethnic minority background on emotional problems was mediated by home or school hassles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The gender gap in emotional problems was restricted to ethnic majority preadolescents. School hassles but not home hassles accounted in part for this effect.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The absence of the gender gap among minority as opposed to majority preadolescents may indicate that social circumstances may postpone or hamper the emergence and magnitude of the gender gap in ethnic minority preadolescents. In this study, school hassles partly accounted for the combined gender and ethnic group differences on emotional problems. This indicates that school hassles may play a role in the higher levels of emotional problems in preadolescent minority boys and consequently the absence of a gender gap found in our minority sample.</p

Migrant children within Europe: a systematic review of children’s perspectives on their health experiences

Objectives: To review the extant literature in order to explore what is known about children’s own perspectives on the ir health experiences , focusing upon children and young people who have migrated into, and within, Europe. Study Design: A systematic review with narrative synthesis. Methods: A review of English language articles was performed in June 2016 using the following databases: Medline, CINAHL, Coc hrane and Web of Science. Included papers had to report data generated directly with children, up to 18 years of age, who had migrated across national borders into, or within, Europe during their own lifetimes. Extraction from articles was undertaken by a ll authors and quality assessment of included reviews was performed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool ( MMAT ) . Results: The articles in the final dataset included research based on 4 broad areas: alcohol, smoking and substance use; diet, eating disorde rs and overweight; emotional, psychological and mental health issues and; children’s views and experiences of health and health services. The majority of studies were cross - sectional analytic or incidence or prevalence studies. Conclusion: There is a gene ral lack of clarity in the literature regarding the reporting of children’s own migration status. Children’s voices are often subsumed within those of their adult parents or carers. There is a need to promote more child - focussed research which gives voice to migrant children to better understand the complex and multidimensional factors that contribute to their (ill) health