Citation

Lloyd G, Stead J. Child. Soc. 2001; 15(5): 361-374.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, National Children's Bureau of the United Kingdom, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/chi.671

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper is about name calling and bullying of Gypsy and Show Travellers in school and the response of schools. The data discussed were gathered as part of a small-scale study of the experiences of Gypsy and Show Travellers in school in Scotland and of the views of school and Traveller support staff. The overall focus of the study was on exclusion and perceptions of deviance. There was a difference in the teachers' views of the two groups of Travellers, with Gypsy Traveller pupils perceived as having, and presenting, more difficulties in school. However both Gypsy and Show Traveller children experienced frequent racist bullying and name calling, often not acknowledged by their school. The paper focuses particularly on this latter aspect of our research, raising issues about the ability of schools to support diversity and suggesting that approaches to bullying often fail to address both broader issues of social relationships in school and also the historical and cultural context of prejudice against Travellers.