Dan Hale University College London

INCLUSIVE: Reducing school

aggression through a whole-school

restorative justice intervention.

Dan Hale

University College London

Overview

 Context

 Background to intervention

 Components of intervention

 Research

Context

10 to 15 year olds:

 9 out of 10 have experienced bullying

Over 1 in 5 bullied in a way that frightened or upset them

in last year

(British Crime Survey, 09/10)

16 to 25 year olds:

Over 1 in 3 experienced physical attack

Half of whom sustained injury

(Beatbullying, 2011)

Context

Outcomes of bullying

 Injury

 Psychological adjustment

 Risk behaviours

 Self-esteem

 Anxiety

 Depression

 Suicide

Context

Background: School-based

interventions

Reviews suggest the following components of successful

interventions:

Multiple components

‘Whole school’ approach focused on school environment

Promotion of social and emotional skills

Involve peer-mediation

Focus on a range of types of violence/aggression (not just

bullying)

Delivered from within schools (not researcher delivered)

Background: School-based

interventions

Why whole school approaches?

Bullying: systemic/group process

Bystanders are affected in similar ways to victims:

 Negative perception of school and social climate

Avoids stigmatization of perpetrators/victims being singled

out

More effective

Background: School-based

interventions

Restorative Justice:

Bringing victims and aggressor together

Restoring damaged relationships (rather than

apportioning blame/punishment

Allows students a say in determining school policies

towards bullying/aggression

Increased social coherence helps prevent conflict

Not particularly effective unless… implemented with a

whole school approach

General aim

To examine the feasibility of a whole-school

intervention based on restorative justice

approaches to discipline which aims to reduce

aggression and bullying in schools.

Logic Model

inclusive Intervention: Inputs

 Money! £4000

 Needs assessment: Prevalence (overall and by gender)

of aggression, bullying, feelings of safety and social

support, school disengagement and difficulties at school

 Facilitation of action group (min. 6 students, 6 staff)

 Training in restorative practice (min. 20 teachers

 Curriculum (6 to 10 hours)

inclusive Intervention: Actions

 Action group meets min. six times

 Restorative practices implemented

 Revised school policies and rules

 Peer mediation strategy revised

 Conferencing

 Social and emotional skills curriculum delivered

inclusive Intervention:

Intermediate impacts

 Improved communication

 Student-centred, more responsive:

 Discipline practices

 Social support

 School organisation

 Increased social and emotional skills

 School engagement

 School connectedness

 Increased feelings of safety/security

 Improved decision-making

inclusive Intervention:

Student health outcomes

 Reduced aggression/bullying

 Mental health

 Wellbeing

 Social/emotinal difficulties

 Anxiety/depressive symptoms

 Reduced risk-taking behaviours

 Substance use

 Sexual risks

 Truancy and exclusion

Research/assessment

 8 schools, randomised to control/intervention arms

 Total sample: 1200 students

Ofsted Report

Satisfactory Good/outstandi

Eligibility for

free school

meals

National

average or

below

2 schools 2 schools

Above national

average

2 schools 2 schools

Research/assessment

 Student Questionnaire at baseline and follow-up (year 8)

 Teacher Questionnaire at baseline and follow-up

 Semi-structured interviews with school staff

 Focus groups with teachers (n=4)

 Focus groups with students (n=16)

Research/assessment

 Primary outcome: Feasibility

 Retainment (3 of 4 in each arm)

 Action group meeting 6 times

 Reviewed school policies

 20+ staff trained

 Curriculum delivered

 Intervention considered acceptable to a majority of school’s

leadership team

Research/assessment

 Primary indicative outcome: Aggressive behaviour/bullying

 Physical violence

 Emotional abuse

 Provoking behaviours

 Delinquency

 Both victim and aggressor

 Scales

 Aban Aya

 Gatehouse Bullying Scale

 Smith Delinquency Scale

 Feasibility study will be used to pilot composite measure of

aggression based on these scales

Research/assessment

 Secondary Outcomes

 Quality of life (PedsQL)

 Psychological distress (SDQ)

 Wellbeing (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale)

 Substance use (self-report)

 NHS use (self-report)

 Disciplinary proceedings (student report)

 Truancy

 School exclusion

 Process Evaluation

 School connectedness

 School engagement

 Social structure/relationships

 Participation

 Social and emotional skills (e.g. empathy, conflect management)

Currently…

 Teacher surveys complete (94% response rate)

 Student surveys complete (95% response rate)

 Data entered

 Needs assessment to be delivered to all schools by end

of next week

 Randomization complete

 First action group meetings have been

convened/planned

Implications

 Affirm importance of a whole-school approach

 Restorative justice: only feasible with a whole-school

approach

 Clear logic model can be tested: examine mechanisms

 Process evaluation in tandem with outcomes from full

trial: fuller picture of acceptability and effectiveness

 Opportunity to amend intervention before full trial

Thank you.

 Website: Inclusiveschools.org.uk

Investigator team:

 Russell Viner (PI; UCL)

 Chris Bonell (PI; Oxford)

 Diana Elbourne (LSHTM)

 Elizabeth Allen (LSHTM)

 Adam Fletcher (LSHTM)

 Lyndal Bond (MRC, Glasgow)

 Stephen Scott (King’s College)

 Deborah Christie (UCLH)

 Alec Miners (LSHTM)

 Natasha Fitzgerald-Yau (UCL)

 Meg Wiggins (IoE)

 Korotimi Diallo (LSHTM)

 Daniel Hale (UCL).