The Challenge

Bullying is a global phenomenon in its many forms physical, emotional or sexual violence and Jordan is no exception with 44.2% of middle-school adolescents in Jordan reported experiencing some type of bullying in school.some type of bullying in school.

Social And Behavioural Insight

We developed a mixed-methods research methodology using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather actionable insights. Through interviews with subject-matter experts, discussions with students, parents and teachers, and a literature review, our team identified the most significant behavioural drivers of bullying:

• POWER DYNAMICS: Overwhelmingly those interviewed agreed that in Jordan bullying happens when an individual appears weak, and that bullies prey on weakness in an effort to demonstrate their own strength.

• NORMATIVE EXPECTATIONS: In general children feel that they are encouraged by the support figures in their lives to solve their own problems and defend themselves and their honour, which is a primary reason why bullying is not reported.

• COMMUNITY DYNAMICS: Normative expectations coupled with community dynamics, in which adults generally turn a blind eye to bullying, discourage children from reporting the bullying they experience, whether through formal or informal means.

• STRESS: Stress caused by problems at home, including parental break-ups, was noted by many teachers and children as being a common reason someone would become a bully.

• CONFIDENCE: Confidence, or lack thereof, was also described as being the key indicator for who would be a bully or a victim. Bullying is seen as a way of expressing a strong, confident personality and resisting the attacks of other bullies. Victimhood, conversely, is associated with lack of confidence.

Methodology

1. Understand:

   • Literature Review

   • Focus Group Discussions

   • Key Informant Interviews

   • Formative Research

2. Produce:

   • Creative Concept and Series Development Workshops

   • Behavioural Analysis Matrix

   • Development of Educational Support Materials

   • Production Processes and Schedules

What We Did

We took a participatory approach, working closely with a wide range of interested parties to get their ideas and feedback, and then presenting our creative concept to the Jordan National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA). The formative research provided the evidence base to develop the creative components to address bullying in Jordan.

1. Creative concept development workshop

   • MAGENTA discussed the key elements of the series and brainstormed multiple different creative concepts for the series ,selecting the suitable concept including basic premise, key characters and types of bullying to be addressed.

2. Behavioural analysis matrix

   • MAGENTA developed a comprehensive behavioural analysis matrix that comprised three fundamental components: behavioural objectives, key messages and episodic summaries.

3. Series development workshop

   • MAGENTA’s creative team brainstormed three potential scenarios for the pilot episode and multiple different routes for character arcs in the plot. This workshop resulted in the selection of a specific pilot episode approach, as well as detailed outlines for the series character arcs, plot and details of the setting.

4. Production of 13 episodes

5. Brand development

   • The series was given its unique identity by MAGENTA’s creative team, who developed the series name and its brand guidelines. The selected title was “SHABABEEK”, which mean “windows” in Arabic.

6. Development of Educational Support Materials

   • MAGENTA developed guidelines and supporting materials for teachers, administrators, counsellors and other trained individuals working in education or child protection in Jordan to use the series in facilitated discussions.

   • Master guidelines: developed to introduce facilitators to guid effective group discussions.

   • Episode guidelines: developed to assist facilitators to guide effective group discussion for each series episode.

   • Teachers’ workshop handout: an educational two page handout to be distributed to teachers during the training workshops or to students during group discussions.