An emotional intelligence intervention programme for primary school bullies: A South African case study

Abstract

Background: Bullying within a school context negatively affects both the bully and the victim. Although bullying is prevalent in primary schools in South Africa, there is a gap in the literature on interventions in this context, specifically interventions that involve the development of socio-emotional skills.
Aim: This study aimed to develop an emotional intelligence skills enhancement programme to serve as an anti-bullying intervention, and to do a preliminary evaluation of the efficacy of the intervention.
Setting: A purposive (non-random) sample of 112 learners between 7 and 13 years of age was drawn from a primary school in Gauteng, South Africa.
Methods: In Phase 1 of the study, the performance of a bully and non-bully group on the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (BarOn EQ-i:YV) was compared utilising an independent samples t-test. In Phase 2, the effectiveness of the intervention programme was evaluated for the bully group. Emotional intelligence scores and behaviour ratings were obtained for an experimental and control group before and after the intervention. A mixed multivariate analysis was used to determine the effect of the intervention.
Results: In Phase 1, the non-bully group scored significantly higher on all the emotional intelligence domains. In Phase 2, significant improvements in the case of emotional intelligence and behaviour were found following the intervention.
Conclusion: The intervention resulted in an improvement in emotional intelligence skills of bullies and a decrease in the prevalence of bullying behaviour. These findings provide support for the importance of emotional intelligence in addressing bullying behaviour.
Contribution: The content and structure of the present programme could guide the development of future programmes. The results should, however, be regarded as tentative because of the small sample included during the evaluation phase. Follow-up research with a larger, more representative sample is recommended.