Izvorni znanstveni članak
Why Good Children Do Bad Things: The Role of Moral Disengagement in Different Ways of Involvement in Peer Violence
Anna Kekez
; Učiteljski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Republika Hrvatska
Vesna Bilić
; Učiteljski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Republika Hrvatska
Sažetak
Violence among peers is a group phenomenon in which children get involved in different ways. They use strategies of moral disengagement to justify their behaviour in order to preserve their self-esteem and reduce selfjudgment. This paper examines the relationship among different roles of children in peer violence and moral disengagement. The research involved 422 seventh and eighth grade primary school students (13.43 years old on the average). In
addition to a sociodemographic data questionnaire, we used adapted scales ofmoral disengagement and the roles of children in peer violence.
The results show that 35% of surveyedstudents experienced bullying. The largest number of respondents perceived
themselves in the role of defender, then in the role of bystander, passive assistant, active assistant, and the fewest
children saw themselves in the role of bully. Girls are more often victims of violence thanboys, and the results show
a low, but statistically significant correlation with the role of bully and either of the assistant roles, and suggest that
the victims tend to conceal or minimize their own negative role and blame themselves. The boys have a higher score
on the measure of role of the bullies than girls, as well as active and passive assistants. The results show a high
Anna Kekez
ZAŠTO DOBRA DJECA RADE LOŠE STVARI: ULOGA MORALNOG...
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correlation among these roles and a common predictor – depreciating the negative impact of harmful behaviour.
Girls have a higher score on the measure of the role of defender, and there is negative correlation with the roles of
bully and assistants. The results show that defenders are disinclined towards cognitive restructuring or towards depreciating the negative impact of harmful behaviour. There is no correlation between the role of bystander and other
roles, but bystanders often have better school achievement,and they are disinclined towards cognitive restructuring.
The conclusion that the moral disengagement processes play a potentially important role in the acts of violence and
in understanding the differences in the involvement of students in them, can be the backbone of school-based
prevention programs.
Ključne riječi
moral disengagement; the roles of children in peer violence; bullying
Hrčak ID:
162152
URI
Datum izdavanja:
28.12.2015.
Posjeta: 3.458 *