BULLYING

Bullying

Bullying

Definition

Bullying is aggressive behavior in which there is an imbalance of power or strength. Usually, bullying is repeated over time. Bullying behaviors may be direct (e.g., hitting, kicking, taunting, malicious teasing, name calling) or indirect (e.g., rumor spreading, social exclusion, manipulation of friendships, cyberbullying). Although adults may tend to view bullying as an aggressive exchange between two individuals (a child who bullies and his or her victim), it is more accurately understood as a group phenomenon, in which children may play a variety of roles as aggressors, victims, observers, and defenders.

Attention to Bullying

Although bullying is an age-old phenomenon, it has only recently been recognized as a serious and pervasive problem among children and youth in the United States. Led by the pioneering work of Dan Olweus in Norway, research attention to peer bullying in Scandinavia has been active for more than 3 decades, and there has been widescale public attention to the problem in Scandinavian countries since the early 1980s. In the United States, such widescale interest in bullying was not aroused until the spring of 1999, when media accounts of the shootings at Columbine High School identified the perpetrators as victims of bullying by classmates. Research on the nature and extent of bullying among children and youth has increased significantly in recent years. A smaller, but growing, literature on adult workplace bullying has also emerged.

Prevalence

Rates of bullying among children and youth vary depending on the definition that researchers use and the populations studied. In an important nationally representative study of more than 15,000 students in Grades 6 to 10, Tonya Nansel and her colleagues found that 17% of children and youth reported having been bullied “sometimes” or more often during the school term and 19% had bullied others “sometimes” or more frequently. These researchers also found that 6% of the students were “bully victims”—they had bullied others and also had been bullied.

Demographic Differences

The nature and prevalence of bullying among children and youth have been found to vary by age and gender. Most research suggests that children are most likely to be bullied during their elementary school years, followed by middle school, and high school. Children and youth typically are bullied either by same-age peers or by older children and youth. This may explain why somewhat different age trends are found when focusing on rates of bullying others versus rates of victimization. Most researchers have found that children and youth are most likely to bully others during early to mid adolescence.

Although both girls and boys are frequently engaged in bullying problems, researchers have debated the relative frequency with which they engage in and experience bullying. Studies relying on selfReport measures typically have found that boys are more likely than girls to bully. Research findings are less consistent when examining gender differences in peer victimization. Some studies have found that boys report higher rates of victimization than girls.

Other studies, however, have found either no gender differences or only marginal differences. What is clear is that girls are bullied by both ...