NCJ Number
227014
Journal
Journal of School Violence Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: April-June 2009 Pages: 100-119
Date Published
April 2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study investigated a theory-driven model combining personal and familial factors that act as parameters of bullying and victimization experiences at school, and tests its ability to fit the data.
Abstract
Findings reveal that a child involved in peer violence at school looks different than the rest and is disliked and isolated by peers, is not effectively monitored at home, and has the tendency to blame factors other than the aggressor when asked to explain aggressive acts. Also, the findings of the present study support prior research claiming that both passive and aggressive victims are disliked by their peers and are lonely, and have very few or no friends to support them if attacked. The attribution style of children involved in peer violence seems to be driven by their tendency to explain the causes of such violence by using factors that are external to the aggressor. They tend to blame others (parents, teachers, even the victim) rather than the individual who perpetuates the aggressive act. Making internal, stable, and uncontrollable attributions has negative effects in a variety of situations that have to do with undesirable outcomes such as low achievement. The result of the present analysis is that the tested model had an excellent fit. This indicates that the factor loading reflect the relation between the particular indicators and the corresponding latent constructs, and the hypothesized data-based model can adequately explain the network of effects existing among them. Data were collected from 377 Greek Cypriot children attending the sixth grade of elementary school and their mothers. Tables, figure, and references