Behind the scenes of bullying prevention: A closer look at program development, implementation, Mechanisms of action, and evaluation

Composition of the jury 

Supervisors  

Prof. Benoît GALAND (PSP/IPSY) – Secretary 

Prof. Chloé TOLMATCHEFF (Radboud University, Nijmegem, Netherlands) 

Members

Prof. Violaine KUBISZEWSKI (Université Franche-Comté, France) 

Prof. Gaëtane CAESENS (PSP/IPSY) 

Prof. Isabelle ROSKAM (PSP/IPSY) – Chair

Prof. Hilde COLPIN (KULeuven) 

You are cordially invited to attend this public defence.

Abstract

School bullying has become a major concern in many schools. As a result, numerous prevention programs have been developed to address this form of violence. However, their impact on reducing bullying and victimization has remained limited for over a decade. We identified four issues that hinder both the accurate evaluation of program outcomes and their overall effectiveness. These issues pertain to program development, implementation, mechanisms of action, and evaluation. We took the opportunity provided by the implementation of the KiVa program in French-speaking Belgium to conduct four studies, aiming to shed light on these issues and to explore the processes behind the scenes of bullying prevention programs. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of bullying and challenge several common assumptions in the field.