Dan Olweus facts for kids

Dan Olweus (born April 18, 1931 – died September 20, 2020) was a very important psychologist from Sweden and Norway. He was a research professor at the University of Bergen in Norway. Many people see Olweus as a pioneer for his work on understanding and stopping bullying. He was one of the first scientists to study bullying in a serious way.

About Dan Olweus

Dan Olweus was born on April 18, 1931, in Nässjö, Sweden. He studied at Umeå University in Sweden. In 1969, he earned his PhD, which is a high university degree. His studies focused on why young boys act aggressively.

In 1970, he started working at the University of Bergen in Norway. He was a professor of psychology there for many years. He continued to be a research professor until he passed away. Olweus died on September 20, 2020, when he was 89 years old.

His Research on Bullying

What is Bullying?

In the 1970s, Dan Olweus started to study bullying in a scientific way. He wanted to understand what bullying was and how it affected children. He wrote a book about his findings in 1978 called Aggression in the Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys. This book is known as the first scientific study of bullying in the world.

Olweus defined bullying as aggressive behavior that is not wanted. This behavior happens over and over again. It also involves a power difference between the bully and the person being bullied. This means one person is stronger or has more power than the other.

His 1993 book, Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do, became very popular. It has been translated into 20 different languages. He also studied bullying by teachers towards students. This was another important area of his research.

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

In the 1980s, Olweus created a special program to stop bullying. This program was one of the first of its kind. It became known as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). The government in Norway liked the program so much that they decided to use it in all elementary and junior high schools.

The main goal of the OBPP is to reduce bullying. It does this by changing how classrooms are set up. It also teaches schools to reward students for good behavior. This helps create a more positive and safe school environment.

Many studies in Norway have shown that the OBPP works. These studies included more than 30,000 students. They found that the program reduced bullying by about 35 to 45 percent. This means fewer students reported being bullied or bullying others.

The program has also been used in other countries. It is used in Iceland, Sweden, and Lithuania. It is also being tested in places like Mexico, Brazil, and Germany. A study in the U.S. with nearly 70,000 students also showed good results. Students reported less bullying and showed more empathy for others.

Awards and Recognition

Dan Olweus received many awards for his important work. In 2002, he won the Nordic Public Health Prize. This award is given by the Nordic Council. In 2003, he received an award for his great work on public policy for children. This came from the Society for Research in Child Development.

He also received two awards from the American Psychological Association (APA). In 2011, he got an award for helping psychology around the world. In 2012, he received another APA award for his research that helped public policy. In 2018, the University of Bergen gave him the Christie Prize. These awards show how much his work helped children and schools worldwide.

See also

In Spanish: Dan Olweus para niños