Understanding Girl Bullying and What to Do About It: Strategies to Help Heal the Divide

"A useful tool for school counselors that outlines the root causes of girl bullying. It provides examples of ways to assess relational aggression in schools, as well as possible interventions."
―Jennifer Betters, School Counselor
Sugar Creek Elementary School, Verona, WI

"This is a well-researched book that integrates theory and research with applications."
―Carol Dahir, Associate Professor of Counselor Education
New York Institute of Technology

Break the cycle of social and relational aggression between girls!

Girl bullying―also known as relational aggression―is a very real and pervasive problem in today′s schools, and studies indicate that bullying between girls can be more covert than between boys, thus making it more difficult for school professionals to detect and address.

Primarily written for school counselors, this book covers the causes and characteristics of relational and social aggression and outlines methods for assessment, prevention, and intervention. The authors answer questions about what girl bullying is, why it happens, what it looks like, how to measure it, and what educators can do to help girls with these issues. The book provides:

• School-based interventions to help students learn alternative, healthy ways of managing conflict
• Sample forms and checklists for documenting and addressing incidents of girl bullying
• An original 10-session curriculum for small groups
• Information on classroom dynamics, bullying, and cyberbullying
• Specific suggestions for working with parents and teachers

Understanding Girl Bullying and What to Do About It helps professionals heal the divide between girls by giving them the tools to work through their problems thoughtfully and constructively.

Julaine E. Field, PhD, LPC, NCC is the associate dean and an associate professor for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs College of Education. She has been employed as a counseling practitioner since 1992, which includes working as a school counselor, mental health counselor, college counselor, and in private practice. Currently, she consults with school districts, administrators, teachers, parents and students on bullying interventions and anti-bullying efforts in schools. She has also worked extensively with victims (adults and children) of domestic violence and sexual assault and has conducted crisis response trainings in these areas for educators, counselors, police officers, mental health workers and crisis responders. She has worked as a counselor educator since 2002, teaching a range of graduate courses including crisis counseling, human sexuality, group counseling and courses related to school counseling. Finally, Dr. Field has authored publications on the topics of bullying, relational and social aggression, counselor advocacy and gender identity. She has also presented at international, national, and state conferences on these topics.

Jered B. Kolbert is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Development at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Kolbert is a certified school counselor and licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Pennsylvania, and he is a national certified counselor (NCC). Kolbert teaches graduate-level courses in counseling, including family counseling, life-span development, school counseling practicum, and a professional orientation course for school counselors. He has also taught at The College of William and Mary in Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University. Kolbert has worked as a school counselor, marriage and family counselor, and substance abuse counselor. He has authored publications in nationally refereed journals on a variety of topics, including evolutionary psychology, bullying, relational aggression, gender identity, and moral development.  Kolbert obtained his doctorate in counseling from The College of William and Mary.

Laura M. Crothers is an associate professor in the school psychology program in the Department of Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education at Duquesne University. Crothers, who is a New Jersey-, Pennsylvania-, and nationally-certified school psychologist, has been recognized as a national expert in childhood bullying by the National Association of School Psychologists. She teaches the graduate-level consultation seminars in school psychology at Duquesne University, and has taught courses in counseling, development, and educational psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock University. Crothers has contributed to the source literature by studying bullying in children and adolescents, and is currently investigating the effects of job stress and locus of control upon teachers’ behavior management styles, assisting teachers in managing student behavior problems in the classroom, using guidance curricular techniques to manage female adolescent peer aggression, and bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. In addition to her scholarly writing, Crothers has delivered lectures and conducted presentations regionally, nationally, and internationally. Crothers provides professional reviews of manuscripts for Communiqué, School Psychology Review, the Trainers’ Forum, and the Journal of Research in Rural Education.

Tammy L. Hughes is an associate professor at Duquesne University and president of the Division of School Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA). She is also the co-chair of the School Psychology Leadership Roundtable (SPLR) and is a past-president of Trainers of School Psychologists (TSP). Hughes is an associate editor for Psychology in the Schools and serves on the editorial boards of School Psychology Quarterly and International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. She is the author and coauthor of numerous books, journal articles, chapters, and other publications on child violence, differentiating emotional disturbance and social maladjustment, and understanding the relationship between emotional dysregulation and conduct problems in children. She routinely provides scholarly presentations at national and international conferences and professional sessions for local and state constituents. Her work experience includes assessment, counseling, and consultation services in forensic and juvenile justice settings focusing on parent-school-interagency treatment planning and integrity monitoring.


Contact Information:
Email: hughest@duq.edu