Abstract:
Introduction: Bullying as a relational behavior where younger and less stronger ones
experience malicious intention from some bigger or stronger ones has been noticed
among students. The latter were found to show the intent to harm others because of
some reasons among which are life experiences that shapes their behavior.
Purpose: Examined the effect of cognitive restructuring counselling technique in
reducing bullying behavior among secondary school students in Sokoto metropolis,
Nigeria.
Methodology: The study used a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test experimental and
control group design. The study population comprises of 71 bully students and a sample
of 40 students, assigned to the experimental and control groups, respectively. Bullying
Behavior Questionnaire (BBQ) was the instrument used for data collection. Validities of
face and content for the instrument were established and also a reliability index of 0.88
was achieved through the test-retest technique. Data obtained was analyzed using
descriptive statistics frequency and simple percentage in answering the research question
while t-test for independent sample was used in testing the hypotheses at the 0.05 level
of significance.
Results: It was revealed that there is a significant difference in the effect of the cognitive
restructuring Counselling technique on reduction of bullying behavior between the
experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group (t = -10.544, p =
.000). However, there was no significant gender difference in the effect of the cognitive
restructuring counselling technique on bullying behavior (t = .095, p = .926).
Recommendations: Teachers, counsellors, and all stakeholders in education should use
the cognitive restructuring Counselling technique to treat bullying behavior of students.
