Before going into the context of the topic, let's make a small definition of what bullying is:
Bullying is the exposure of a child to intentional and repeated physical and psychological harm by another child, or a group of them, when he/she attends school. The bully takes advantage of an imbalance of power that exists between him and his victim to obtain a benefit (material or otherwise), while the bullied feels helpless and can develop a series of psychological disorders that directly affect his health or even, in extreme situations, self-destructive behaviors.
In a research I was doing for my psychology studies, I came across this sensitive issue of bullying, and I wanted to share it with you. For the elaboration of this article I chose a case of bullying, which occurred in a high school in Barcelona, Madrid. Which is treated by a psychologist of the student center, the case is of a student of the institute.
We must mention the General Principles of the Code of Ethics of Madrid, as they refer to the protection of human rights and the obligation to report and intervene in situations of abuse, which would be:
Article 5, whereby the purpose of the practice of psychology is human and social, seeking the welfare, health, quality of life, full development of individuals and groups in the different aspects of their lives, both individual and social. On occasions when the case requires it, the psychologist must resort to the help of other professionals, without prejudice to the competences and knowledge of each one.
Article 6º, by which the psychologist must "respect the person, protect human rights, sense of responsibility, honesty, sincerity with his patients, prudence in the application of instruments and techniques, professional competence, solidity of the objective and scientific basis of his interventions".
Article 8º, The psychologist must inform the COP of situations of mistreatment, violations of human rights or cruel, inhuman or degrading conditions of confinement that are made by their patients, in order to establish the best plan of action to resolve the situation.
Article 9º, moral and religious criteria will be respected, although this does not prevent the questioning in the course of the intervention if necessary for the case.
For each process of psychological care the same must have a planning according to the seriousness of the matter we start:
Phase 1:
It is about a student who requests a session with the psychologist of the institute, and expresses that since admission she has been suffering bad jokes, they harass her by calling her at home, they insult her, they laugh at her by calling her names, already reaching a limit where she feels humiliated, she decides to go to the psychologist before telling her parents because she is afraid that the situation will be more serious when she tells them.
At this point the specialist tries to identify the problem, collect all possible information provided by the student, and the possible causes of conflict.
The student asks for privacy for her consultation and asks the psychologist not to discuss anything with anyone.
The psychologist as a professional in the field begins to investigate on his side trying to find out by other means, found that her grades have dropped her grades are not the same, the next day the psychologist receives a note warning him not to intervene.
The psychologist notices that this case goes beyond that, and that the student, who is a minor, is in danger, so the first action he is obliged to take is to notify her parents or guardians, if applicable.
The first dilemmas arise, then, in the case of a minor:
What is the duty of a professional in the face of knowledge of a possible action that is harming the person, in this case a minor, who comes to consultation?
How far should the principle to which the psychologist is also bound in his or her practice - confidentiality - go in the case of a minor?
With respect to this information, Articles 39, Section V, "OF THE OBTAINING AND USE OF INFORMATION", of the Code of Ethics, would be applicable, which stipulate:
Article 39º, the psychologist must respect the client's right to privacy, disclosing information only as necessary and always with the client's authorization.
Phase 2:
With the information obtained, a bullying problem was identified and, at that point, the second stage of the model could begin, referring to the need to consider different alternatives to the problem. It is necessary for the psychologist to explore other possibilities.
However, although it is always advisable to listen, attend and give credibility to this type of statements made by children and adolescents, we only have the information given by the student. She cannot interview her family or friends. The only interview that the psychologist has done apart from the complaint itself has been a consultation with the student's guardian, and there has been no other evidence to confirm the harassment that the student reflected.
Therefore, and considering this, an alternative hypothesis that could be formulated would be that There is no case of bullying, and it may be a call for attention of the student, with which the problem identified would no longer be a case of abuse but would be before another very different one.
Phase 3:
In the opinion of the psychologist, the information they have is scarce and insufficient to confirm the real problem they are facing.
It would be risky for the psychologist to make a confirmation of bullying, based on the interview with the student, as it would also be risky to affirm that it is a symptom of another situation of psychological distress of the student, according to her grades.
There are, therefore, three options at this point:
Option 1- Give credibility to the information provided by the student.
Action: Start an intervention aimed at interrupting the abuse.
Option 2- Do not give credibility to the information provided by the student.
Action: Start a targeted therapeutic intervention, arranging further interviews with the patient, trying to find out the type of pathology of the patient.
Option 3- Do not make any assessment based solely on the information available to you.
Action: Expand the information, making a more rigorous investigation of the case, although using a procedure of maximum urgency and priority, due to the importance of the case, based on the note she received.
Phase 4:
In this case, the psychologist finds the information provided by the student insufficient, which goes for option 3: Do not make any assessment, having to rely on scarce information, as it seems insufficient.
The intervention would begin by making a more in-depth investigation, conducting a clinical evaluation at the physical and emotional level, which will allow him to know her physical state as well as the resources and coping strategies that the minor possesses, interviews with the family environment of the student, with her teachers, with her friends, I would also suggest in the first instance, that she not attend school for a few days, to interrupt the acts against her, if they were finally confirmed.
Phase 5:
In this stage is to evaluate the process for the resolution of the ongoing problem, in this case, the solution has been to perform an evaluation, with maximum urgency and priority, in greater depth that will provide more information to determine if there has been a case of abuse; as it will ensure that the therapeutic intervention that is initiated will be appropriate to the case, and will ensure the improvement of the student.
Obtaining as a result the resolution of the problems and improvement of the student's grades.
Your opinions are very valuable to me, I will be very attentive to your comments. Thank you for investing your valuable time reading my publication; best regards.
P.S: I want to let you know that English is not my native language, for that reason it is very likely that I may make some mistakes in the elaboration of this article. If this should happen, please feel free to correct me properly. It will help me in my learning process.
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