Bullying, Suicide, and Homicide: Understanding, Assessing, and Preventing Threats to Self and Others for Victims of Bullying

170 Pages·2011·1.99 MB·English

by  Butch Losey

Bullying, Suicide,
and Homicide

Bullying, Suicide,
and Homicide
Understanding, Assessing,
and Preventing Threats to Self and
Others for Victims of Bullying
Butch Losey
New York London
Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Losey, Butch.
Bullying, suicide, and homicide : understanding, assessing, and preventing
threats to self and others for victims of bullying / Butch Losey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-415-87344-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-415-87347-5
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Bullying. 2. Bullying--Prevention. 3. Suicide. 4. Homicide. I. Title.
BF637.B85L67 2011
302.3--dc22 2010047313
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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ISBN 0-203-86462-X Master e-book ISBN
Contents
Preface vii
acknowledgments i x
author’s note x i
chaPter 1 Persistent Bullying and suicide as a
ViaBle oPtion 1
chaPter 2 effectiVe school PreVention 9
chaPter 3 inconsPicuous Partners: Bullying as a
Precursor to suicide and homicide 2 5
chaPter 4 factors that increase risk for Victims
of Bullying 3 3
chaPter 5 screen 5 3
chaPter 6 assess 6 5
chaPter 7 mediate 7 9
chaPter 8 Practical aPPlication of the Bullying
lethality identification system 101
ePilogue 119
references 123
aPPendix a: Bullying lethality screening tool 129
aPPendix B: suicide assessment 133
v
vi Contents
aPPendix c: threat assessment 137
aPPendix d: documentation of Bullying interVention 141
index 143
cd contents 159
Preface
I was like many others: a victim of bullying. My story has no tragic end
or great triumph over adversity. It happened; I suffered to some degree
and somehow navigated the experience through avoidance or fighting
back. Beyond that, I have no real personal story of bullying to tell.
Some years back, many things seemed to converge all at once in my
life. I was struggling to finish a doctoral degree and trying to figure
out how to collect data for ethnographic research on the importance of
family dinners. I was going nowhere with it. At the suggestion of my
boss, I switched my research to collecting data on the Olweus Bullying
Prevention Program, a program that I had recently been certified to
teach and was set to implement in four schools in a local district.
School had been in session for just over a month when we began the
implementation of the Olweus program, and I concurrently began my
data collection. During this time, I was asked to assist in the imple-
mentation in several schools of another prevention-based program
called the Signs of Suicide. For this program, we surveyed every stu-
dent in the schools and then conducted a personal interview with any
student who was identified as a suicide risk. I was astounded by the
number of children who reported that they had or were contemplating
suicide to some degree because of the bullying they were experiencing.
Surprisingly, we had never asked about bullying during the survey.
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viii PrefaCe
As I worked on both projects, I was regularly contacted by schools
interested in implementing bullying prevention and parents trying to
figure out how to stop their child from being victimized. I also heard
from a few people who had lost loved ones tragically by suicide as a
way to escape the pain of bullying. As they talked, I listened. Their
stories touched me. I learned the connection among bullying, suicide,
and school violence. I learned of our failures in mental health and
education to protect these children.
I wondered what I could do to make a difference. I decided that I
could help by filling in a gap and creating a way to assess the impact
of bullying victimization on mental health. I expected that by using
a screening and assessment tool with victims of bullying, a mental
health professional could identify the level of torment a child was
experiencing and in this way potentially divert the tragic solution of
suicide or school violence some children choose. Using these tools
could get the student the help they need.
Bullying, Suicide, and Homicide will increase your understanding of
the impact of bullying on the core essence of one’s sense of self. You
will learn that bullying prevention and intervention will be most suc-
cessful when an ecological approach is implemented. You will learn
the components of screening and assessment tools that will guide your
decision-making process as you intervene with victims of bullying. All
the tools and forms that I have created are printed as appendices and
are on the CD included with this book. The CD will afford you the
opportunity to modify the tools to fit your individual work setting.
I believe that I have met my goal for making a difference.
Professionals across the country are using these tools. I have presented
numerous workshops on the topic. And—you are reading this book.
Bullying, Suicide, and Homicide will add to your repertoire of skills to
intervene during a difficult time in a young person’s life. Your inter-
vention may translate into one life saved. That difference is in no small
measure what I had hoped to accomplish.
Acknowledgments
I would like to recognize and thank Susan Graham for her ideas that
contributed to the development of the Bullying Lethality Screening
Tool. The screening tool created the foundation for the material in
this book. I would also like to thank Jim Carter, chief executive officer
of Child Focus Incorporated, for his continued support of my bullying
prevention efforts. Both are strong advocates for bullying prevention
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
ix