Dr. Shelley Hymel Shares Research for Pink Shirt Day 2015

Story and video production by: Julie Acres

Dr. Shelley Hymel has been very active in addressing bullying through research and work with schools. It makes sense that we highlight some of Dr. Hymel’s recent research projects, speaking engagements, and publications that will help shed more light on the topic of bullying to raise awareness and contribute to Pink Shirt Day. Learn more from our news post about Pink Shirt Day.

Upcoming Publications

Four decades of research on school bullying: An introduction

Dr. Hymel’s most recent publication (currently in press) in the American Psychologist flagship journal provides an introductory overview of findings from the past 40 years of research on bullying among school-aged children and youth. This special issue covers five articles that address:

  • What is Bullying and How Do We Assess It?
  • How Prevalent is Bullying and Victimization?
  • How Stable is Peer Victimization?
  • The Many Faces of Bullying
  • Can We Effectively Address Bullying?
Hymel, S., & Swearer, S.M., (2015). Four decades of research on school bullying: An introduction.
Moral Disengagement and Aggression in Children and Youth: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Currently in press (expected April 2015) in the Merrill Palmer Quarterly, Drs. Shelley Hymel and Sonja Perren reveal that it’s necessary to move beyond concurrent correlational studies that investigate moral disengagement and aggression that determines bullying and provides hope after forming a realistic conclusion about research in this area.

Hymel, S., & Perren, S., (2015). Moral Disengagement and Aggression in Children and Youth: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Recent Keynotes on Bullying (to name a few…)

Hymel, S. (2014). “Four decades of research on school bullying: What have we learned?”  Invited keynote address for Psychology in Education at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Vancouver, BC.

Hymel, S. (2014) “Addressing school bullying through social and emotional learning”. 46th Banff International Conference on Behavioural Science: Preventing Bullying through Promoting Healthy Relationships. 16-19 March, Banff, Alberta.

Hymel, S. (2014). “When Heart Meets Mind: Addressing Bullying through Social-Emotional Learning”” Invited Keynote for the Lester B Pearson School District Professional Development Conference 16 May, 2014, Montreal, PQ.

Hymel, S. (2014). “Preventing Bullying in Schools Through Social-Emotional Learning” Keynote presentation for Peace Grantmakers Conference, “Creating Caring School Communities”, Montreal, Quebec.

Hymel, S. (2014).  “Group Processes Underlying Bullying: Implications for Intervention”. Invited presentation: Anti-bullying Summit, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.

UBC Course on Bullying

Last year, Shelley taught a doctoral seminar course.

EPSE 604 Class:  Knowledge Mobilization

Students from the EPSE 604 doctoral seminar course on Bullying and Victimization in Schools were invited to the International Youth Film Festival’s presentation of “REGRET” (about school bullying) to secondary students throughout the lower mainland.  This included an opening presentation on bullying by Dr. Shelley Hymel and a panel presentation following the film by ten EPSE 604 doctoral students and another 3 members from Dr. Hymel’s research team on addressing bullying as a bystander based on most recent research findings.

The Bullying Research Network (BRNET)

Drs. Susan Swearer and Shelley Hymel founded BRNET with the purpose of connecting national and international researchers in the areas of bullying prevention and intervention, peer victimization, and other related issues. BRNET was initially a web-based initiative, with a dedicated website and communication via e-mail. More recently, BRNET has expanded its electronic footprint to include a Facebook page and Twitter channel .

The mission of BRNET has always been to promote research-to-practice initiatives among bullying researchers with the goal of effective dissemination to the lay public. In 2005, BRNET had 26 national and international members from six countries. Currently, it has 115 members from 14 different countries.

“In conclusion, there is no conclusion to what children who are bullied live with. They take it home with them at night. It lives inside them and eats away at them. It never ends. So neither should our struggle to end it.”

~ Sarah, age 16, who was excluded and victimized in school.

More About Shelley

Dr. Hymel’s research addresses the interface of social and academic functioning in school-age children, with the goal of understanding the processes involved in youth social development and using this information to develop effective means of supporting high-risk youth in educational settings. Most of her work is conducted through collaborative partnerships with local school and community agencies, as part of the Centre for Youth Social Development, a virtual centre whose mandate is “to support the social and emotional development of children in schools and communities, one child at a time, and one classroom at a time, through resilience-based, multi-systemic and inclusive interventions that consider the child, the family and the classroom/school context.” View Faculty Profile

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