NCJ Number
206419
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 379-400
Editor(s)
Vincent B. Van Hasselt,
Michel Hersen
Date Published
July 2004
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article, an empirical review defining and describing the construct of bullying and its subtypes, provides an overview of developmental trends related to age and gender based on empirical findings; recommendations are presented.
Abstract
Bullying research is a relatively new area of empirical focus and under the broad category of aggression research. This review provides an examination of the current empirical literature on the topic of childhood bullying. It provides a brief discussion of the general construct of aggression and describes subtypes of aggression. Bullying is considered to be a subset of the overarching concept of aggression. Ways in which bullying and aggression are interrelated, yet have distinct constructs are illustrated. The article describes the various definitions of terms and approaches to the measurement of bullying. In addition, it offers prevalence estimates, characteristics of bully subtypes and related psychological findings. Successful intervention strategies in response to trends in bullying and victimization require a clear picture regarding the nature and prevalence of bullying within a given population. The future of bullying research needs to move towards extensive intervention and prevention projects, followed by outcome studies evaluating the effectiveness of such interventions. Research findings on bullying behavior can be used to guide empirical approaches aimed at reducing the problems and improving the quality of social and educational environments. References