Students' Understanding of Bullying: Implications for Social Work Education and Practice

Social workers are expected to address a range of adverse and traumatic experiences among youths. One common, adverse experience is exposure to bullying. However, the degree to which schools of social work address bullying and thus prepare students to effectively intervene has yet to be investigated. Using a sample of 146 BSW students, the purpose of the present study was to describe students' exposure to content specific to traditional and cyberbullying and their general knowledge and perceptions of these issues and to explore students' reported self-efficacy to intervene and their preparedness to address bullying in their practice with youths and their families. Results revealed several notable trends. Overall, students reported little exposure to bullying-related content and only moderate levels of self-efficacy and preparedness to intervene. Implications for baccalaureate social work education are discussed in the context of enhancing bullying-related content, including exposure to efficacious prevention and intervention strategies.