Stuart W. Twemlow is professor of psychiatry at Baylor College Medicine. Frank C. Sacco is president of the Community Services Institute, Agawam & Boston (MA).
This is an important book. Building on years of K-12 school-based
research and school improvement efforts, the authors describe a
framework and a series of linked goals that are both wise and
practical. In fact, Twemlow and Sacco were two of the first people
in America to focus on the critical role that bystanders play in
bully-victim behavior . If you truly care about promoting safe,
caring and responsible schools, read this book.
*Jonathan Cohen Ph.D., Co-President, International Observatory for
School Climate and Violent Prevention, adjunct professor, Teachers
College, Columbia University; president emeritus, National School
Climate Center, Educating Hearts and Minds Because the Three R’s
Aren’t Enough*
Stuart Twemlow and Frank Sacco have devoted decades to
understanding conscious and unconscious individual and group
processes that lead to aggressive behavior and tragedy in schools.
In this book they send us a clear message: It is not any one
violence prevention method that is important; it is how
people-students, parents, teachers, administrators, community
leaders-implement it that matters. They suggest no quick-fix, but
delve deeper, exploring how emotional attitudes and actions of
persons or groups dovetail to set the stage for either tragic
outbreaks or an atmosphere of safety in schools. What makes this
book powerful and refreshing is the authors' outspoken discussion
of issues that are usually denied. These topics range from an
examination of the consequences of shame and humiliation, to the
fallacy of the "zero tolerance concept," to the role of the
internet in changing today's youth culture...Not only should this
book be read by anyone who is concerned with school safety, it has
value for anyone who wishes to understand how destructive human
behavior can be inflamed or tamed.
*Vamik D. Volkan M.D., professor emeritus of psychiatry at the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA and the author of
Killing in the Name of Identity: Stories of Bloody Conflicts.*
Preventing school violence and bullying is one of the most
important priorities for educational systems in the developed
countries. This book sets out interesting viewpoints, and practical
steps, focussing strongly on the kinds of relationships involved in
bullying behaviours. It will be useful for all concerned with
taking action in this area.
*Peter K Smith, PhD, head, Unit for School and Family Studies,
Goldsmiths, University of London, U.K.*
Representing a decade and a half of conscientious bully prevention
research and program development, Twemlow presents an excellent
overview of their Peaceful School Program intervention and impact.
They illustrate myths and fallacies of bullying and explain in
detail how to develop effective connections and collaboration with
schools - program buy-in - that is essential for any program to
have an impact. They provide an overview of understanding the
process of creating school climate change and teacher engagement
including approaching the problem by understanding power struggles
and how the entire social climate must change to impact the
problem. They explain the concept of mentalization and how
important this construct is for impacting bullying, and methods to
engage in indentifying, evaluating, and acting to reduce the
problem of bullying in classrooms and schools. Their specific steps
for establishing a game plan of clear, easy to follow, and
well-studied processes guide educators through the course ofaction
for effective change. They also describe how to discuss
undiscussables - those touchy subjects, such as teacher or
administrator bullying, that maintain the problem and have to be
understood for comprehensive change to occur. Their review of
mea
*Arthur Horne PhD, interim dean, College of Education, University
of Georgia*
Drs. Twemlow and Sacco cogently and provocatively address the
"undiscussables" in the bullying intervention literature. This book
challenges us to think about the complexity of bullying behaviors
and not to over-simplify the challenges facing educators, students,
and parents. To truly stop bullying, we have to embrace a cultural
shift where compassion, respect, and altruism are the solid
underpinnings of every school climate, and all adults and students
collectively "live" these ideals. Under these conditions, bullying
simply will not exist.
*Dr. Susan M. Swearer, associate professor of School Psychology,
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, co-editor: Bullying in American
Schools: A Social-Ec*
We learned that what you [do] to change a school [is] secondary to
how you [do] it, and that the most powerful tool in changing a
school is the 'buy in' of teachers." Society has to 'buy in' too.
This book is eye opening and gives a stark view of social systems
where, in large sectors of our youth, violence is power and power
dynamics govern the behaviors of many among them. The authors
emphasize that the actions of crime-perpetrators and victims are
facilitated and contained, even while they are mentalized, by its
bystanders. Bystanders at all levels of social groups are, passive
or not, participants of crime. While the authors do not say so, it
leads one to ask if the bystander is nearly as much responsible for
a crime as the perpetrator.
The study on which this book reports addressed "ways of changing a
school's climate using a randomized, controlled study …[which
involved] nine schools and thousands of children." The book,
dedicated to "Educators all over the planet…," is rich in powerful
insights into what really makes for a safe school and an unsafe
school. For those who think they know, this is a wake-up call.
Things are not always what they look like from a surface sweep.
Twemlow and Sacco deserve society's attention and psychoanalysis'
praise. Educational administrators, educators at all levels -
principals, teachers and coaches - , as well as social scientists -
sociologists, socially concerned psychiatrists, psychologists and
psychoanalysts -, social historians, clergy and others have to read
this book. And, oh yes, State Governors and City Mayors would be
wizened by it.
*Henri Parens, MD*
Representing a decade and a half of conscientious bully prevention
research and program development, Twemlow presents an excellent
overview of their Peaceful School Program intervention and impact.
They illustrate myths and fallacies of bullying and explain in
detail how to develop effective connections and collaboration with
schools - program buy-in - that is essential for any program to
have an impact. They provide an overview of understanding the
process of creating school climate change and teacher engagement
including approaching the problem by understanding power struggles
and how the entire social climate must change to impact the
problem. They explain the concept of mentalization and how
important this construct is for impacting bullying, and methods to
engage in indentifying, evaluating, and acting to reduce the
problem of bullying in classrooms and schools. Their specific steps
for establishing a game plan of clear, easy to follow, and
well-studied processes guide educators through the course of action
for effective change. They also describe how to discuss
"undiscussables" - those touchy subjects, such as teacher or
administrator bullying, that maintain the problem and have to be
understood for comprehensive change to occur. Their review of
measures of bullying, and the examples of surveys, are very
informative and user-friendly. In short, this is a book for all
people interested in reducing bullying in schools and
communities.
The authors' use of clear examples from their work in schools
ranging from kindergarten to high school, combined with their focus
on changing the school climate through respectful and conscientious
engagement with teachers, and a program carefully constructed to
address the concerns of the specific school, provides the reader
with an excellent understanding of the current state of bullying in
schools as well as hands-on methods for engaging schools and
communities to effectively address the problem. This is an
excellent engagement in the bully prevention process and one
*Arthur Horne PhD, interim dean, College of Education, University
of Georgia*
It is by now widely recognized that bullying is both a major form
of school violence, and a major cause of even more violent
responses on the part of the victims, from suicides to homicides.
Traditional attempts to minimize how damaging bullying is have
ranged from one extreme to the other — from "It never happens here"
to "Bullying occurs universally and always has, so it can't be too
bad." Fortunately, thanks in part to the work reported over the
past several years by the authors of this book, most of us now
realize how badly both of those rationalizations distort
reality.
This new book by some of the leading experts and pioneers in the
field of bullying prevention...is a welcome addition to the
literature on this subject: it is the product of extensive
experience, perceptive observation and wise reflection, and should
be of immense practical help to everyone concerned with this
problem, which ultimately includes all of us — parents, teachers,
school boards, administrators, and most of all, our children — who
are, after all, our future. I commend this book to everyone who
cares about the future of this country and, indeed, every
country.
*James Gilligan, MD, professor, New York University; author,
Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic and Preventing
Violence*
[This book] is a comprehensive look at the myths related to past
programs, and it presents a new, radically different
program....With an academic tone, each chapter tackles a
challenging aspect of understanding bullying and
violence....Drawing on numerous international studies, this book's
universal appeal is both provocative and in-depth....a rich
resource for addressing both the dynamics and the personal nature
of bullying.
*Foreword Reviews, October 2008*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
