¶ … Based Learning with Victims of Bulling Behavior" by Kimberly Hall (2006) suggests that in addition to a comprehensive school anti-bullying initiative, the unique concerns of students bullied by other students must be addressed. She advises specific student group therapy sessions, where victims can make use of a technique known as Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In this technique, small groups of victimized middle school students are given a fictional scenario about another, bullied student and attempt to find solutions to his or her problem in an objective manner. This is supposed to help students develop more constructive strategies to adopt when they are being bullied. Hall grants that the study design was problematic in terms of how its efficacy was difficult to measure, given its small size and the subjectivity of its nature -- teachers and counselors would report if students seemed to use more assertive behavior. However, the technique was judged, in general, to be helpful for the students.
Another problem with the method, however, unaddressed by the article (which is generally positive in tone) is that it essentially penalizes the bullied student, by forcing the student to engage in extra counseling sessions, rather than addressing why bullying is supported by the environment of the school or why bullies are engaged in negative behavior. The nature of the endeavor seems to 'blame the victim.' Additionally, it is unclear if Problem-Based Learning might be any more or less effective than, for example, assertiveness training, which would not treat the students as victims, and define their identities as victims of bullying but would provide them with more general strategies for coping with their lives overall in a more empowered fashion. In short, the PBL technique does not seem to provide fully effective counseling for students with low self-esteem, who may or may not be the targets of bullies, and only treats one half of the problem of bullying in school.
Works Cited
Hall, Kimberly. (Feb 2006) "Using Problem-Based Learning with Victims of Bulling
Behavior." ASCA. 9:3
