Amir Ilyas,1,* Hasta Handayani Idrus,2,3,* Evi Aprianti4,*

1Department of Criminal Law, Faculty of Law, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia; 2Department of Biomedical Sciences, Postgraduate School, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia; 3Center for Biomedical Research, Research Organization for Health, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, Indonesia; 4Department of Disaster Management, Graduate School of Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Amir Ilyas, Department of Criminal law, Faculty of Law, Hasanuddin University, Independence Pioneer Road Km.10 Tamalanrea, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Email [email protected]

View the original paper by Mr Hikmat and colleagues

We have read the paper written by Rohman Hikmat et al on The Effect of Empathy Training on Bullying Behavior in Juvenile Prisoners.1 We congratulate all authors who have provided important information regarding the importance of empathy training for community nurses in Special Child Development Institutions in preventing bullying, especially adolescents in correctional institutions. Empathy is a complex concept in which multiple dimensions (emotional, moral, cognitive, and behavioral) work together. Empathy training includes identification with the suffering of the bullying victim, internal motivation to empathize, understanding of the perspective of the bullying victim, and the ability to convey this understanding of emotions and perspectives back to the bullying victim, empathy skills are needed to understand the emotions and experiences of the bullying victim.2

The study conducted by Rohman Hikmat et al used a quantitative method with a quasi-experimental design with pre and post tests with control groups. Sampling using purposive sampling and empathy training was conducted for 3 months in 4 sessions consisting of education, role playing, watching films, and reflection.1 The method used is in accordance with the objectives to be achieved, but we would like to recommend a comprehensive approach to training community nurses to be able to work effectively with juvenile prisoners who have different cultures and belief systems. An integrated curriculum is needed that is designed to expand the scope from simply teaching empathy skills to include exploration of training on humility culture. It is hoped that nurses can recognize and stop bias in themselves. This curriculum is expected to increase the satisfaction of child prisoners as measured by evaluation after training.3

In this study, Ian Rohman Hikmat et al found that in the intervention group, most respondents had high bullying behavior before the intervention and low bullying behavior after the intervention.1 However, we would like to recommend that the Empathy Training provided can be developed in nursing courses that include the experiences, stories, and perspectives of child prisoners in order to help them better understand their innate capacity to increase their empathy.2

In conclusion, we agree that empathy training is a recommendation for community nurses in Special Child Development Institutions to implement community-based nursing interventions in preventing bullying in children and adolescents, especially adolescents in correctional institutions.1 This is important because to compete in the current global era, children’s psychological behavior will affect their decision-making process in the future. Many people rarely pay attention to the elements of children’s behavior because they assume that children do not have the right to make important decisions in their lives, even though emotional intelligence is important in many parts of life.4

All authors report no conflicts of interest in this communication.

1. Hikmat R, Suryani S, Yosep I, et al. The effect of empathy training on bullying behavior in juvenile prisoners: a quasi experiment. J Multidiscip Healthc. 2024;17:4177–4188. doi:10.2147/JMDH.S479364

2. Ferri P, Rovesti S, Padula MS, D’Amico R, Di Lorenzo R. Effect of expert-patient teaching on empathy in nursing students: a randomized controlled trial. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:457–467. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S208427

3. Jones A, Bertsch K, Williams D, Channell M. The tensegrity curriculum: a comprehensive curricular structure supporting cultural humility in undergraduate medical education. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2024;15:381–392. doi:10.2147/AMEP.S442569

4. Ran Z, Gul A, Akbar A, Haider SA, Zeeshan A, Akbar M. Role of gender-based emotional intelligence in corporate financial decision-making. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2021;14:2231–2244. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S335022

© 2024 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.