Center Spotlight Series
ABC - National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre
Building on a 20 year legacy of research on bullying started by Prof. Mona O'Moore in 1996, the Anti-Bullying Centre (ABC) was re-launched in 2014 jointly by the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore TD and the Minister for Education & Skills Ruairí Quinn TD as a National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre. ABC leads the field of research, resource development and training in bullying in Ireland and is an internationally recognised centre of excellence in bullying research. The Centre's activities are currently funded under the National Action Plan on Bullying (2013) , the Irish Research Council, the EU's Erasmus+ Framework Program for Education, Training, Youth and Sport and DCU Research and Innovation Support. The Centre is now one of DCU's designated research centres and is led by Dr. James O'Higgins Norman (Academic Director) and Prof. Mona O'Moore (Founding Director).
Researchers at ABC were the first in Ireland to undertake national studies on school bullying (1996), workplace bullying (1998), homophobic bullying (2003), cyberbullying (2010) and on parental capacities and knowledge of cyberbullying (2016). In 2014, ABC hosted the first national conference on cyberbullying at Dublin Castle. The conference was attended by delegates from across Ireland and the EU including speakers from the Government of Ireland, Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies as well as researchers from a number of universities. The Centre has also undertaken research on bullying and people with intellectual disabilities as part of EU funded projects.
The Centre has a strategic research partnership with researchers at Arizona State University (USA), Memorial University Newfoundland (Canada) and the Norwegian Center for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education at University of Stavanger (Norway). These partnerships represent a concerted and collaborative effort to compile research based knowledge on how schools and communities can prevent and deal with bullying and violence in schools as well as promote positive developments for children and adolescents in preschool and school. The Centre has three research themes:
- School related bullying among young people
- Cyberbullying and related issues
- Workplace bullying and conflict
Over the past 7 years researchers at ABC have participated in 15 EU-funded research projects on bullying and cyberbullying prevention. Researchers at ABC are currently involved in two EU funded projects on bullying (www.sonetbull.eu) and cyberbullying (www.parentnets.com) with partners in 8 European countries. We are also working on a number of projects funded by the Irish Research Council in particular on cyberbullying led by Dr. James O'Higgins Norman and Dr. Mairéad Foody and another on evaluating sexual inclusivity in second-level schools led by Dr. Debbie Ging. Other projects in the Centre are looking at online misogyny and bullying (Dr. Eugenia Siapera), hate speech and social media (Dr. Debbie Ging), the arts and theatre as a means of combating bullying in schools (Irene White MA), Red Haired Racism in Schools (Dr. Majella McSharry and Dr. James O'Higgins Norman), and defining bullying among children with special education needs (Dr. Geraldine Scanlon). All of these projects are funded by the Department of Education and Skills under the national Action Plan on Bullying (2013).
In June 2016 with financial support from DCU Research and Innovation Office, ABC hosted an international scholarly conference on bullying (www.bully.ie). Over 160 delegates from around the globe attended the conference entitled Bullies, Bullied and Bystanders. The conference provided an opportunity for ABC to further enhance it's role as a leader of an international community of scholars who work on research related to bullying. In 2017 ABC will partner with the International Bullying Prevention Association to launch a new peer reviewed journal focused on bullying prevention.