Bullying  and  victimization  are  associated  with  a youth’s interactions  and  socialization  in  the  family,  and  more specifically,   parenting   practices.   Parenting practices in South Korea have been characterized as being harsh and controlling to overly permissive.  Even teachers will often dismiss an instance of bullying as something that the family, and not the school, should deal with.  To this end, will changing the familial environment have any effect on how a child behaves in school?

Research has found  that  children  were  aggressive  toward their  classmates  when  parents  frequently  used  physical and psychological punishment as forms of control.  Parental behaviors  were  most  highly  correlated  with  childrens’ aggression for both boys and girls. On  the  contrary,  care-givers  who  provide  emotional  support  can  buffer  youth against negative peer relationships that encourage bullying and aggressive behaviors (Shields & Cicchetti, 2001).  As such, several bullying intervention programs in South Korea  have  targeted  parenting  behaviors  and  practices.

One such program involves psychodynamic art therapy (Chun et al., 2003).  Here, the  researcher  examined whether psychodynamic art therapy influences child rearing attitudes,   mothers’   emotion   expression,   and   mothers’ understanding of bullied and victimized children’s behavior.  Results indicated that this therapy was effective in reducing aggressive and maladjusted behaviors among students identified as bullies. The therapy targeted both the individual behavior of the youth and the parenting practices of the mothers. Prior to this therapy, the mothers of the bullies displayed  aggression/hostility, neglect/indifference,  and  rejection  toward  their  own  children. After the therapy sessions, these mothers showed less aggression and hostility, and displayed greater warmth  and  affection  to  their  children (Chun et al., 2003).

Though this is only one instance of a successful program, it suggests that parents who show more empathy and warmth could exert a positive influence on their children.  Further studies should continue this trend and study whether or not this difference in parental behavior will also have a positive influence on children who are not only victims of bullying but also perpetrators of bullying themselves.