Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Social Work (DSW)

School

Social Work

Advisor

Kenneth M. Larimore

Abstract

The social problem of bullying in schools has been an area of study among researchers, but there is a gap on how school social workers can help. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary school social workers’ perceptions on bullying, contributing factors of bullying, and organizational culture on bullying. Sociocultural theory aided in interpretation of results and understanding the social problem of bullying. Nine elementary school social workers participated in semi structured telephone interviews. The phone interviews were analyzed using open coding methods, in vivo codes and phrases, categories, and themes. The study’s findings revealed that most elementary South Texas Region school social workers perceived bullying to be a problem in their schools including aggressive, repetitive acts that infringe on the rights of others and is harmful to the victim, psychologically, emotionally, socially, academically, and at times physically. Additionally, the findings showed that social workers perceived those children who have special needs, autism, medical or psychological diagnoses, perceived as different, or who were from lower socioeconomic statutes were more likely to be targets of bullying. Moreover, school social workers perceived that the problem of bullying can be either perpetuated or decreased based on the organizational climate of the school. This study supports the need for positive social change through increased use of social workers and their skill set to respond to school bullying; social worker involvement may help decrease bullying and impact social changes for schools and society at large.

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