Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Recent Bullying Trends in Japanese Schools: Why Methods of Control Fail

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control

  • 1699 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter reviews the research evidence concerning bullying (Ijime) in Japanese schools —and delineates countermeasures against it—using a critical review that questions the effectiveness of government and school bullying prevention measures spanning 30 years of a bullying crisis in Japan. Countermeasures provided by the government have made bullying even harder to stop, and this can be attributed to an inability to investigate the real reasons bullying takes place. The public is therefore denied an opportunity to realize that the bullies and the bullied are socially constructed concepts perpetuated by schools and the media as a result of a fearful instinct to find witches (the bullies). It is difficult to put an end to bullying when it is an intrinsic part of humanity that occurs particularly when certain political-economic conditions, such as neoliberalism and credentialism, are met. To provide a better environment for young people and lessen the methods of control, this chapter suggests that society should admit the inevitability of bullying and teach students to learn and grow from confrontation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Akiba, M. (2005). Nature and correlates of ijime—Bullying in Japanese middle school. International Journal of Educational Research, 41(3), 217–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akiyama, H. (2008). 生徒指導の現状と課題について:どのようにして非行、いじめ、不登校を解 決していくか. 実践女子大学生活科学部紀要, 45, 13–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, R. (1996). Witches and neighbours: The social and cultural context of european witchcraft. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choda, I., & Endo, S. (2007). 世世代間比較調査「少年の世界」:友人関係意識の現状と学校教育の 課題. 宇都宮大学教育学部教育実践総合センター紀要, 30, 76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comaroff, J., & Comaroff, J. L. (2002). Alien-nation: Zombies, immigrants, and millennial capitalism. The South Atlantic Quarterly, 101(4), 779–805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egawa, B. (1986). 東京都教育委員会調査報告「いじめから学ぶ」.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feeley, M. M., & Simon, J. (1992). The new penology: Notes on the emerging strategy of corrections and its implications. Criminology, 30(4), 449–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukaya, K. (1995). なぜいじめや学校嫌いが起きるのか. In 下村 (Ed.), いじめ (pp. 64–86). 不登校.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland, D. (2001). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harada, M. (2007). 魔女裁判といじめの文化史:いじめ問題の歴史的・構造的研究.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiruta, G., Matsuda, K., Shikama, M., & Nagamine, J. (1997). Bullying at japanese schools: A review of research. 福島大学教育学部論集, 62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Japan Educational Press. (2006). 教育再生会議/いじめ問題への緊急提言?教育関係者、国民に向けて? 平成18年11月29日.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasuya, T. (2017). いじめの定義の理解と求められる教育実践. いじめの定義の理解と求められる教育実践, 9, 109–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitazawa, T. (2007). フィクションとしてのいじめ問題. In 伊藤茂樹 (Ed.), リーディングス日本の教育と 社会(第 8 巻)いじめ・不登校 (pp. 161–172). 日本図書センター.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiyoteru Okouchi’s suicide. (1994). Retrieved August 3, 2013, from http://yabusaka.moo.jp/okouchi.htm

  • Koga, T. (2007). 蒙原理といじめ. In 伊藤茂樹 (Ed.), リーディングス日本の教育と社 (第 8 巻) いじめ・不登校 (pp. 79–85).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kupchik, A. (2010). Homeroom security. New York: New York University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Larner, C. (1986). Witchcraft and religion: The politics of popular belief. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masao, Y. (2007). いじめの記号論.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayama, H. (2002). Discourse analysis as conceptual study: Toward the dismantling of ijime suicide. The Journal of Educational Sociology, 70, 145–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Justice 法務省人権擁護局. (1996). 小学生の生活に関するアンケート調查結果報告書.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyadai, S., & Fujii, S. (1998). 学校的日常を生きぬけ. In 小西正雄 (Ed.), 消える授業 残る授業. 明治図書.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monbusho [Ministry of Education]. (1994). Seito shidojo no shomomdai no genjo to Monbusho no Shisaku ni tuite [The present situation of issues concerning student tutelage and measures by the Ministry of Education]. Tokyo: Ministry of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morita, Y. (2001). いじめの国際比較研究─ 日本・イギリス・オランダ・ノルウェーの調査分析.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morita, Y., & Kiyonaga, K. (1994). いじめ:教室の病.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morita, Y., Soeda, H., Soeda, K., & Taki, M. (1999). Japan. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P. Slee (Eds.), The nature of school bullying: A cross cultural perspective (pp. 309–323). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naito, A. (2001). いじめの社会理論 social theory of bullying. Tokyo: Kashiwa-shobo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naito, A. (2009). いじめの構造:なぜ人が怪物になるのか.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M. C. (2009). Hiding from humanity: Disgust, shame, and the law. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Okouchi, K. (1994). 大河内清輝君の遺書全文 from http://yabusaka.moo.jp/okouchi.htm

  • Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ookubo, T. (2013). スマホ時代のネットいじめ. 教育デザィン研究, 4, 12–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Science, T. M. o. E. a. (2009). 平成 20 年度「児童生徒の問題行動等生徒指導上の諸問題に関する調 」について.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, J. (2007). Governing through crime. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. K., & Brain, P. F. (2000). Bullying in schools: Lessons from two decades of research. Aggressive Behavior, 26, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. K., & Sharp, S. (1994). School bullying. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, K. (1995). 学校におけるいじめ. The Annual Report of Educational Psychology in Japan, 34, 132–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tagawa, T. (2012). ネットいじめ言説の特徴─ 新聞記事の内容分析から-. 名古屋文理大学紀要, 12, 89–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takano, S. (1986). ijime no mekanizumu (the mechanism of bullying). Tokyo: Kyoiku Shuppan.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Japan Times Online. (2006, October 28). Bullying still a school problem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wacquant, L. (2009). Punishing the poor: The neoliberal government of social insecurity. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yoneyama, S. (2002). Japanese ‘education reform’-the plan for the twenty-first century. In J. Masswood, J. Granham, & H. Miyajima (Eds.), Japan—Change and continuity. London: Curzon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoneyama, S. (2008). The era of bullying: Japan under neoliberalism. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoneyama, S., & Naito, A. (2003). Problems with the paradigm: The school as a factor in understanding bullying (with special reference to Japan). British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(3), 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Taipei University, New Taipei, Taiwan

    Mau-Sheng Lee & Puma Shen

Authors
  1. Mau-Sheng Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Puma Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Jo Deakin

  2. Department of Sociology, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Emmeline Taylor

  3. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, USA

    Aaron Kupchik

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Lee, MS., Shen, P. (2018). Recent Bullying Trends in Japanese Schools: Why Methods of Control Fail. In: Deakin, J., Taylor, E., Kupchik, A. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71559-9_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71559-9_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71558-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71559-9

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation