Ch. III: Teasing, Bullying, and Emotion Regulation in Children of Incarcerated Mothers

Ch. III: Teasing, Bullying, and Emotion Regulation in Children of Incarcerated Mothers

Description

This chapter appears in the book, Relationship Processes and Resilience in Children with Incarcerated Parents.  Edited by Julie Poehlmann, J.M. Eddy, and Patricia J. Bauer.

Chapter abstract:  For better or for worse, every child, adolescent, and adult is teased; it is a normative part of living (Warm, 1997). Teasing can be playful or hurtful, but the line between the two is not always clear (Keltner, Capps, Kring, Young, & Heerey, 2001). The ambiguity between hostile and friendly teasing is part of the very nature of teasing, and teasing can cross into bullying (Mills & Carwile, 2009). Whereas teasing may be positive, bullying is always negative, as it intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another (Olweus, 2006). Teasing is universal, but there is tremendous variability in how well children cope with teasing and the extent to which their own gibes are designed to hurt others. Although some topics allow for lighthearted joking, having a parent in prison is a tender subject for children and is an easy target for cruel teasing. Furthermore, we know that children who report feeling high levels of stigma around their mothers’ incarceration tend to act out aggressively (Hagen & Myers, 2003). Their aggressive behavior can include bullying their peers.

Part of the series: Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

ISBN

978-1-118-79500-2

Publication Date

2013

Publisher

Oxford University Press

City

Oxford

Keywords

Teasing, Bullying, Emotion regulation, Incarcerated mothers

Disciplines

Child Psychology | Cognition and Perception | Developmental Psychology

Ch. III: Teasing, Bullying, and Emotion Regulation in Children of Incarcerated Mothers

Share

 
COinS