A theoretical construct for peer advocacy as a functional response to bullying

![CDATA[Peer Advocacy is a helping strategy which provides victims of bullying with an individual mentor to assist them in their efforts to resist bullying. Peer Advocacy is an innovative adaptation of the advocacy process successfully employed to support individuals with disability and other community members who seek justice through the aid of knowledgeable and capable others. It is a new approach to intervention in bullying as it requires peers of victims of bullying to accept responsibility for their protection and to offer structured assistance. Very little will change in the current social responses to bullying and victimisation if this cannot be affected. The theoretical foundation for Peer Advocacy is constructed from both recent original research and an examination of a range of theories not previously considered in relation to bullying. Data collected in four metropolitan high schools in NSW, sought student opinions on: the seriousness of bullying in their school, their inclination to report bullying they were aware of to a teacher, the capacity of the school to make students feel good about themselves and student willingness to assist others they saw being bullied. Analysis of the data revealed significant differences in the attitudes and perceptions of bullied students and the general populations of the schools and between schools. This provided the research base to support the conceptualisation of structured peer intervention. Further, the concept is grounded in theories of advocacy, the psychology of victimization and resilience, social capital and child protection. Each of these is shown in another document by the same author, to support the notion that bullied young people can secure the assistance and intervention to which they are entitled by seeking help from trained and trusted peers who then act for and with them in their approaches to authorities. Peer Advocacy comprises specific operational and philosophical principles related to bullying intervention as a responsibility of the peers of victimised individuals. These structures and processes are fully described in another document and this paper describes the foundations of the intervention, based on recent research.]]