By Susan Strauss
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011, 208 pp., $34.95
Bullying is a real issue among students, and its effects have no limits whether emotional insecurity or fatal tragedy. Susan Strauss has compiled an academic yet practical understanding for adults who care about kids and want to identify the behavioral and legal implications of what they may experiencing.
Sexual Harassment and Bullying is full of information you wouldn’t know to look for, yet feels a bit dry and reactionary versus personal and objective. Strauss applies judicial and cultural research to highlight gay, heterosexual and non-sexual issues that may be common in school systems and peer groups. She cites the core issue for it all as our culture’s patriarchy—having what she calls a “male-dominated, male-identified and male-centered” emphasis.
It’s hard to understand how all of this adds up as what the author projects as an agenda for the book seems intermixed with her personal politics. Unless you’re aware of a specific situation involving bullying or sexual harassment for which you’d like a fuller perspective, the secular content and author’s bias likely will discourage an everyday practicality to the content.
