A couple of probable treatments for school psychoterror, especially taking bibliotherapy in consideration
As for this blog, I also used a Hungarian article describing the topic comprehendingly. As for the article, you can find the link below, named “sources”.
What is psychoterror exactly?
It refers to the aggressive act (threat, being violent etc.) performed by one or more people who are physically, verbally and/or socially stronger than their victim who is mostly weak, lonely and has problems defending themselves. It is important to acknowledge that the act happens not only once, but again and again, it’s destructive and lasts for a longer period of time. The English bibliography uses the term “mobbing”, but it has other synonyms such as bullying, or harassment.
The term was first used in ethology by Lorenz Konrad referring to the behavior of wild gooses, and later it became a term of social psychology and organizational psychology, mostly used in connection with workplace bullying.
As children tend to spend a lot of hours day by day at school, this term (mobbing) can be used not only for workplace bullying, but school bullying as well. School can be considered as a representation of life (and work), where there are formal and informal human connections, and where children can get used to or can learn how different fields or roles (such as leadership or power) can influence their life.
School psychoterror
School psychoterror is a really complex phenomenon including social, psychological and ethical elements and is related to micro- and macroeconomical influences.
It has 3 levels:
1. Adult-adult
2. Adult-child
3. Child-child
From all these, the original text took the third one into consideration and I found it the most relevant one too, so from now on, I will talk about that one.
In this context, “mobbing” refers mostly to those situations where the members of the student bully group mostly embarrass the victim, maybe excluding him/her for a longer period of time. According to a Hungarian research taking place in Hungary in 2004, more than ¼ of children from the age of 10-15 are passive victims of verbal, physical or psychological aggression. At middle school, 73% of the bullies are boys, and 63% of the victims are girls. It is important to mention that experiencing bullying even as bystanders influences the person’s development of personality, interpersonal relationships or performances.
Signs of school psychoterror
We have to spread the awareness that everyone can become a victim of school psychoterror (!!!), but mostly children being really different from norms/standards are the targets.
Recognizing mobbing can be difficult for teachers, as bullying usually does not happen openly, in front of their eyes, but secretly (such as exclusion), and also students cannot describe it as well as it should be in order to be treated efficiently.
In the background there is always a deformity of social relationships among children and these mobbing acts, after a longer period of time, can lead to anxiety, isolation, lower school performance, psychosomatic diseases (for example: migraine, weakening of the immune system), and in more serious cases neurotic or psychotic disorders.
Also, a tremendous sign is the absence of children from school, who are active or passive participants of bullying: not going to school is a way of escaping from problems!!
Forms of school bullying
As this subject is based on this topic, I just want to give you a couple of examples on school bullying:
Other children exclude the victim
They lock the children out in the hallway or the yard
Bullies wait for the child after school and beat him/her
They bully the victim through phone calls or emails
Make the child a slave (the victim is made to tie the bullies’ shoes and so on)
The victim is made to write the bullies’ homeworks
They yell at the victim over and over or criticize his/her clothes etc.
Bibliotherapy
Although there are some useful interventions (educational sessions for teachers about school bullying, trainings for improving the individual’s personality and behavior or talking together with the children in class...), the article highlighted BIBLIOTHERAPY as a good way of intervention.
But what is bibliotherapy? - Quoting a “Bibliotherapy is a form of creative arts therapy that uses literature to help you improve your life by providing information, support, and guidance through reading books and stories. Books and other written material can influence human emotions and provide wisdom, emotional connection, insight, and comfort.” (verywellmind.com)
Apart from entertainment and being a particular source of happiness, it can be used for starting a friendly debate amongst classmates and can help build the community as well. Performing this kind of therapy at school, it can modify/rectify smaller problems, can prevent addictions and the deepening of emotional problems.
CAN BE PERFORMED ON | Normal, healthy children |
NECESSARY FOR | Children who are in a dangerous situation (poverty, family problems, violence, inadequate parenting style...) |
ESSENTIAL FOR | Children who live with mental disorders. In this case, a professional has to be involved as well! |
Stories have always been a cure for a lot of interpersonal or personal problems. They can moderate human relationships, can be used as reflection points or be an emotional support for people. The world of literature is the highlight of reality. While reading these particular therapeutical stories, people can learn from the characters and learn their adequate behavior via different psychological learning methods such as reinforcement-extinction, behavioral inhibition, imitation or identification. These stories can help children find themselves, shape their identities and socialize.
With the identification to the characters and their behavior, the conflicts amongst children can be solved, the origin of their aggression can be found and transformed, and their mental health can be improved.
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