Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
the bullying behaviour is a problem. The behaviour exhibited
included verbal abuse, physical abuse, intimidation, and racism,
stealing, hiding and causing damage to personal property, and
space. A parent, a sibling, fellow resident, a peer, a gang of
children/young people, a child in school, a child on the street were
all mentioned as people engaging in bullying.
Prevention of the behaviour was undertaken in the form of
highlighting that the behaviour was unacceptable within the
environment. Incidents of bullying were dealt with on an individual
basis guided by the agreed Health Service Executive
Policy/Procedure document. The Key Worker was noted to play a
vital role for working with the child/young person who is exhibiting
bullying behaviour and the victim of such behaviour. Including
parents in the process (depending upon the child’s/young person’s
care plan) was felt to be very important. Strong links between the
residential setting and the school were recommended. All the
participants were aware of the impact of bullying upon the
child/young person, such as self-harm and suicide.
Conclusions. The findings of this study helped both the social care
workers and the children/young people to understand the meaning
of “Bullying Behaviour in the Residential Setting”. When the author
presented her findings to the social care workers, they felt that the
children/young people would learn from the research findings. The
author presented the research findings to the children/young people
who found the session very interesting and helpful in terms of
preventing /managing the behaviour. A two day training course was
set up based upon the research findings and the recommendations
for best practice in the area of bullying behaviour prevention. The
author notes what started out as a small study, has become a real
influence upon the prevention/management of bullying behaviour in
the residential setting.
References.
Corby, B (2002) (2 nd Ed.) Child Abuse, Towards a Knowledge Base.
Buckingham: Open University.
Sinclair, I. and Gibbs, I. (1998) Private and Local Authority Homes:
A Comparison in the Journal of Adolescence. Vol.21.P516 – 527.
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