CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. School Bullying: What It Is and Why It Hurts
2. The Role of Bullies, Victims, and Witnesses
3. Factors Contributing to Bullying and Violence
4. Screening and Assessment
5. Treatment For Children and Adolescents
6. Prevention and Intervention
7. Legal and Ethical Issues

Supplements
Case Studies
Fact Sheets
References
Resources

The ABCs of Bullying
Addressing, Blocking, and Curbing School Aggression

Other Indicators

The mental health professional interviewing the student and/or his or her family also should be alert to indicators of psychological and mental health problems of the student, including:ref

• Appearance: Dress, grooming, or unusual physical characteristics.
• Behavior: Activity level, mannerisms, eye contact, manner of relating to therapist/parent, motor behavior, aggression, or impulsivity.
• Expressive Speech: Fluency, pressure, impediment, and volume.
• Thought Content: Fears, worries, preoccupations, obsessions, or delusions.
• Cognition: Orientation, vocabulary, abstraction, and intelligence.
• Mood/Affect: Depression, agitation, anxiety, hostility, or irritability.
• Suicidality/Homicidality: Thoughts, behavior, stated intent, or risks to self and others.
• Attitude/Insight/Strengths: Adaptive capacity, strengths and assets, cooperation, insight, judgment, and motivation for treatment.

Other general questions include: What is going well? What is going not so well? How pervasive and serious are the problems? What seems to be the causes of the problems? What could be done to make things better?

The student and family should always be asked for input in developing strategies for problem solving. By involving the student, the professional helps him or her to identify the problem and begin to process the underlying factors influencing the problem. It also allows the mental health professional to assess the student and family commitment to change.ref