Evaluation of anti-bullying methods

In 2011 the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) presented a report on an evaluation of methods against bullying.

On its publication, the findings, methodology and conclusions generated considerable discussion among academics, professional evaluators, education practitioners and policy makers in Sweden. This translation of the report is aimed at broadening this discussion. While Swedish schools, in an international perspective, have consistently shown relatively low levels of bullying, a continuing number of initiatives have been introduced to prevent bullying. This report presents the results of the evaluation. It gives an account of how schools use the programs investigated, an assessment of effectiveness of various elements of the programs as well as a detailed explanation of the evaluation strategy. It is important to note the use of concepts and terms. The word bullying(Swedish: mobbning) is not used in Swedish legislation. In the last decade, a wider term, generally translated as degrading treatment (Swedish: kränkande behandling), has come into use in various school ordinances. In addition to the use of a wider, more inclusive term, duties of schools have also been extended by the revised Anti-Discrimination Act, introduced in 2009, with the specific goal of combating all forms of discrimination. Readers of this report should note these aspects when reading the text. The Swedish National Agency for Education hopes that agencies, policymakers, educational planners and evaluators, in their efforts to prevent bullying, will find the report useful in the continuing battle to reduce and eliminate bullying and degrading treatment in schools.