Attachment and bullying: The potential relationship between these factors and the implications for bullying among deaf students
Temas
Detalles
In recent years, investigators have endeavored to describe various forms of bullying, characterize those involved in the bullying phenomenon, and create effective prevention and intervention strategies in order to alleviate the drastic increases in the presence of bullying in American society. The literature on the characteristics of those involved in bullying has only recently expanded to include investigations into the parent-child relationship and attachment patterns. Through the lens of attachment theory, the parent-child relationship stands as the framework through which all children learn to understand social relationships. Given the importance of this relationship, it is reasonable to question whether attachment patterns play a role in one’s experience of the bullying phenomenon. The aim of the current study was to investigate the potential relationship between parent-child attachment and one’s involvement in bullying among deaf individuals. Given their status as “different” from the hearing majority, deaf individuals are a highly vulnerable population. Results of this study suggest that deaf participants reported a significantly higher rate of involvement in bullying than did their hearing counterparts in the existing literature. Moreover, results suggest that there is no statistically significant relationship between one’s attachment pattern and one’s involvement in the bullying phenomenon. Still further, results suggest that secure attachment does not necessarily serve as a protective factor against victimization. However, findings do suggest that one’s attachment pattern is related to the way in which one manages the bullying experience, specifically by sharing one’s experience with another individual. Additional findings outline several deaf-specific factors involved in bullying such as being teased for wearing assistive hearing devices or based on one’s communication preference and skills. The implications of these findings for future research on bullying among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals are discussed.