How One Illinois Researcher Hopes to Stop the Cycle of Bullying

A University of Illinois at Chicago researcher has received a major grant from the Ford Foundation for a four-year study on anti-gay bullying. The $730,000 study will look at youth's reasoning about bullying on the basis of sexuality and gender. The research will also focus on bullying as a means of social control.

Stacey Horn, an associate professor of educational psychology, is the one running the study. According to Horn, a growing body of research shows the prevalence of sexuality-related bullying, but she has identified few studies that have looked at how adolescents actually view such behavior. She also sees a lack of understanding about how age, culture, social groups, and school context influence the views of youth.

"Do young people view all forms of sexuality-based exclusion or bullying as harassment? Or do they see some of them as legitimate ways to regulate their peers' social behavior?" Horn asks. "Do school norms, rules, and policies affect their reasoning?"

The research will begin with one-on-one interviews with kids in seventh, ninth and eleventh grade. The study will encourage these youth to recall incidents of "sexuality-related interactions," which includes such details as the relationship of perpetrator and victim, their mental states,  and peer status. Other things that will be looked at include the presence of bystanders, the final outcome of the event, and to what extent the interview subject considered it harassment. Horn says harassment may include "calling someone a fag, slut or dyke to harm their social status, spreading a rumor about their sexual behavior, or even physical assault."

After the initial discussions, there will be a second round of interviews. In these sessions, researchers will present summaries based on incidents discussed in previous interviews and then aim to record the students' reactions. They will also prepare case studies to determine how those reactions are influenced by school context, taking into account their schools' compliance with the recent anti-bullying law invoked in Illinois.

"We'll be heavily involved in shaping how the anti-bullying law is implemented across the state," Horn says. "We're also working with a coalition of teacher education faculty from across the state to ensure that all teacher education students get adequate training in sexual orientation and gender identity."

The Ford Foundation grant that Horn received requires an extra level of public interaction. As part of the grant, Horn must develop public education campaigns. She plans to do this with the help of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance. She must also train graduate students to be the next generation in sexuality-based research.

Talk about putting money to good use, and using the academy to help dismantle the cycle of bullying and anti-gay harassment.

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