Criminology Research Council grant ; (6/97-8)
The report for this project is titled "From Bullying to Responsible Citizenship: A Restorative Approach to Building Safe School Communities". The project examines the shame management strategies of bullies and victims in ACT primary schools. The project was based on Ahmed's (2000) findings that shame management was central to our understanding of bullying and victimisation in schools. Bullies do not acknowledge shame but displace it. Victims do acknowledge shame but feel rejected by others. The project followed up on this work in two ways. First, a follow-up of the original sample asked how shame management related to bullying and victimisation over time. The findings supported that shame management strategies did vary with changes in bullying and victimisation behaviour. Second, an intervention program for primary schools (The Responsible Citizenship Program) was developed. It aimed to help children learn more effective ways of managing their shame when a wrongdoing had occurred in the school. The evaluation of this program, by all involved, was positive in terms of learning outcomes. Of particular importance were the changes in shame management strategies that were found.