NCJ Number
200197
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2003 Pages: 301-314
Date Published
August 2003
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined empathy, prosocial behavior, the number of friends, self-reported popularity, and various forms of interpersonal forgiveness as predictors of peer victimization among 52 seventh and eighth graders attending a small, private, religiously affiliated school in the southeastern United States.
Abstract
The Peer Victimization Self-Report Scale asked the youth whether anyone in their class ever picked on them at school, had said bad things about them to other kids at school, or had hit them at school. Other instruments administered to the youth were the Emotional Empathy Scale, the Forgiveness Inventory, and the Student Nomination Scale of Victimization. The latter scale consists of student-rated items of behaviors that the respondent has observed in his/her peers. Teachers were asked to complete this scale based on their observations of each student. Overall, packets of questionnaires provided information on demographics, popularity, number of friends, empathy, forgiveness, and victimization. Popularity was found to be the strongest individual predictor of teacher-reported victimization by peers, with high popularity associated with low victimization. Male students reported significantly higher rates of victimization than females, which prompted the researchers to examine correlates of self-reported victimization separately by gender. Interpersonal forgiveness scores were the strongest predictor of self-reported victimization; however, different forms of forgiveness were the greatest predictors of male and female self-reported victimization. Suggestions are offered for future research relevant to this topic. 6 tables and 56 references