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Peer victimization is the experience among children of being a target of the
aggressive Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...
behavior of other children, who are not siblings and not necessarily age-mates.


Background/overview

Mass interest in the issue of peer victimization arose during the 1990s due to media coverage of student
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
s, peer beatings, and
school shootings A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of firearms. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple c ...
, notably the tragedy in
Columbine, Colorado Columbine is census-designated place (CDP) in and governed by Jefferson and Arapahoe counties in Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located primarily in Jefferson Coun ...
.Pdf.
This led to an explosion of research attempting to assess
bully Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by ot ...
-victim relationships and related players, what leads victims to experience negative outcomes and how widespread this problem was. Studies of peer victimization have also been conducted in the context of research investigating childhood relationships in general and how they are associated with school adjustment and achievement. Research has proven the problematic nature of peer victimization, identifying many negative outcomes such as low
self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
, low school engagement, school avoidance, lower school achievement,
learned helplessness Learned helplessness is the behavior exhibited by a subject after enduring repeated aversive stimuli beyond their control. It was initially thought to be caused by the subject's acceptance of their powerlessness, by way of their discontinuing atte ...
, and depression. Peer victimization is especially prevalent and damaging in
middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
, as during this time children are defining themselves by creating
self-schema The self-schema refers to a long lasting and stable set of memories that summarize a person's beliefs, experiences and generalizations about the self, in specific behavioral domains. A person may have a self-schema based on any aspect of themselve ...
s and establishing self-esteem, both which will impact their future adult life; for this reason, most of the research on peer victimization focuses on this age group. They are also more vulnerable to peer rejection because needs for belonging and intimacy may be especially strong during early adolescence when children are working to solidify their peer groups. Retrieved from www.csa.com. Much of victimization research adopts a
social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...
perspective, investigating how different types of peer victimization affect the individual and the different negative outcomes that occur. Some experimenters are adopting the term social victimization in order to acknowledge that victimization can take both verbal and nonverbal forms or be direct or indirect. They mostly focus on the types of victimization that can occur from multiple sources in a particular environment.
Personality psychologists Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, mos ...
look at individual differences and effects in victims. They may also study individuals in a social context, determining which are more likely to be victimized, such as those who are socially withdrawn. With the development of technology and the widespread access it gives to children and teenagers, peer victimization has become more prevalent through the Internet and cell phones than in years past. This form of victimization called
cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
has the potential for a much wider audience than traditional face-to-face victimization. It is also easier to hide from parents and teachers. Studies have found that because this form of victimization is done through the anonymity of the Internet or text messaging, bullies feel more comfortable being crueler to the victim. Without face-to-face communication, social standards become less important and behavior becomes less inhibited.


Major theoretical approaches


Operational definitions

Originally, researchers focused on overt forms of
victimization Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer victimisati ...
, which were categorized as either physical or verbal. Later, researchers such as Nicki R. Crick argued for the existence of a more covert form of victimization which she observed primarily among females that she called relational victimization, during which a child's social relationships and social standing are attacked via methods such as peer exclusion. Lecture conducted from Vanderbilt University, Nashville. Today, victimization is largely operationally defined as either covert/relational victimization or overt/physical victimization, in which a child is threatened with or dealt corporeal damage.


Research approaches and theories

The study of peer victimization draws from two major strands of research as identified by Seely, Tombari, Bennett & Dunkle (2009) called the "
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
strand" and the "peer relationship strand." The victimization aspect of the "bullying strand" focuses on what leads victims to disengage from school and suffer from damaging negative outcomes while others adjust. The peer relationship strand is more quantitatively oriented, studying fundamental factors related to peer victimization and the negative outcomes, paying special attention to what factors mediate the relationship between them. Interest in peer victimization in psychological research has been fairly recent, and therefore it appears that most researchers have drawn from other areas of study and contemporary applied theories to the context of peer victimization. The areas of the bullying strand that specifically pertain to peer victimization are studies of victimization prevalence, victims’ home environment, and effects of victimization in schools. Researchers started by determining the prevalence of peer victimization believing this would allow for the comparison of the problem over time, populations and after interventions. Prevalence research has been conducted in many different countries, cultures and classroom contexts. Studies utilize a variety of different methods such as self-report questionnaires, peer nominations, and teacher nominations have been used. Unfortunately, results show that in many contexts, the percentage of children that are victimized have fallen in a range between 5-90% Bullying strand research also focuses on the type of families that those who are victimized come from and what types of parenting styles they experienced Finally, a limited number of studies today focus on impacts of being bullied in a school setting and how it relates to achievement, truancy, and drop-out. Studies examining peer victimization have also been conducted in the context of a body of research interested in peer relationships and how they affect educational performance and adjustment; this is identified as the "peer relationship strand." In the 1970s and 1980s, Steven Asher identified one form of a relationship—peer victimization—as a predictor of educational maladjustment. Later, a new perspective formed that considered peer victimization as a type of relationship existing on a continuum of relationship roles from healthy relations to detrimental ones instead of focusing on specific bully-victim relationships. Experimenters have also been interested in how early victimization effects individuals over time, focusing on school-related outcomes. Studies have largely worked to identify underlying factors that mediate negative outcomes. To account for the difference in the severity of negative outcomes as a result of peer victimization, researchers have utilized theories of implicit peer relationships. In order to understand the social world, individuals create implicit theories about their social interactionsPdf.
Pdf.
A major determinant of how a person handles social evaluation is the degree to which they ascribe entity theories of personality, believing it their attributes are stable and unalterable or incremental theories of personality, viewing attributes as pliable able to be augmented Those who adopt entity theories of personality often pursue performance oriented goals, seeking to accrue positive and avoid negative evaluations of their competence. Since they view their attributes as constant, it is vital that they are desirable in order for them to maintain a positive self-image. People who hold incremental theories of personality endeavor towards mastery-oriented goals, focusing on learning and cultivating competence since as they believe their attributes are malleable. Accordingly, they should feel less threatened by others’ evaluations of their competence. When thinking about self-evaluation, implicit theories should affect the degree to which children base their self appraisals on peer judgements, determining whether negative social interactions undermine their well-being. In regards to behavioral reactions to victimization, research has identified two categories of characteristic responses. One contains externalizing behaviors such as aggression, disruptive, antisocial, and acting out behaviors (Achenbach, 1966). Another constitutes internalizing behaviors like inhibited, anxiety, or heightened withdrawal. Hawker and Boulton (2001) have used the
rank theory of depression Rank theory is an evolutionary theory of depression, developed by Anthony Stevens and John Price, and proposes that depression promotes the survival of genes. Depression is an adaptive response to losing status (rank) and losing confidence in the ...
to explain the relationship between forms of victimization and types of maladjustment. According to the rank theory, internalizing problems such as depression are linked to a sense of powerlessness and of not belonging. Those who are physically victimized suffer from low resource-holding potential, which works in part to delineate social power in peer groups, while relational victimization directly affects children's sense of belonging instead. Currently, researchers have become interested in the direction of the relationship between peer victimization and psychosocial adjustment. Many believe that the relation acts in a single direction: either peer victimization leads to maladjustment, or the relationship is reversed Some argue that the relationship is a bidirectional and causal relationship. As studies on the topic have generally utilized, cross-sectional research designs, a definitive answer has not been reached.


Empirical findings

A study by Cole, Maxwell, Dukewich & Yosick examined how physical and relational Targeted Peer Victimization (TPV) victimization were related and measured their effects on different types of positive and negative cognitions. It was hypothesized that the link between peer victimization and depression was mediated by the creation of negative self-schemas. The study found gender differences in victimization, as Relational TPV was more common for girls and physical TPV was more common for boys. Also, children who were severely victimized exhibited less positive self-cognitions and more negative self-cognitions as well as more depressive symptoms. Yet when they controlled for the effects of relational TPV, the effects of physical TPV disappeared; it appears that relational TPV is more strongly associated with these outcomes and an investigation of physical TPV alone would not yield the same associations. Positive and negative self-cognitions were found to mediate the effect of relational victimization to symptoms of depression. Another study by Sinclair (2011) examined the relationship between physical and relational peer victimization with negative and positive self-cognitions as well. It was found that both types of victimization led to increases in negative self-cognitions and decreases in positive self-cognitions, though the effects were more pronounced when a child experienced relational victimization. While girls were found experienced more relational victimization than boys did and boys experienced more physical victimization than girls did, the negative effects of victimization on self-cognitions was stronger in boys. This may be due to one of their findings that boys are less likely to seek adult social support than girls are. A study conducted by Schmidt and Bagwell used surveys to gauge the reactions of victimization and their self evaluated friendships. The study found that girls benefited significantly from having stronger, reliable peer friendships in coping with victimization, while boys did not.Pdf.
/ref> A study by Snyder and colleagues studied 266 Kindergarten and first grade children in cases of observed victimization at school. The researchers hypothesized that children with higher recorded cases of victimization during recess would rank higher in antisocial and depressive behavior—according to parents and teachers—than those who do not. Results showed that girls were not as affected by boys in terms of their change in teacher and parent rated behavior whereas boys were heavily influenced by the amount of peer victimization that day. Research seems to show that there is drastic difference in the way both genders (at least in children) respond to victimization from peers. Current studies on children indicate that regardless of observational method (researcher direct observation or survey results given to the children) there is a marked effect of victimization, especially from peers. The magnitude of the effect on their behavior and mental health is heavily correlated with the situation of the victimization and the child's social environment at the time. Schwartz et al. (1998) investigated the role of victimization in the development of children's behavior problems, focusing on both internalizing and externalizing problems. They hypothesized that higher levels of victimization would lead to increased level of behavioral problems. Child behavior was reported by teachers and parents, measured using the
Child Behavior Checklist The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a widely used caregiver report form identifying problem behavior in children.Achenbach, T.M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). ''Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms and Profiles.'' Burlington, VT: University of Verm ...
, and peer victimization was measured using peer nomination. Indeed, they found that peer victimization in middle childhood was associated with behavioral maladjustment on both a concurrent and prospective basis. Additionally, externalizing behaviors were more strongly associated with victimization than were internalizing behaviors. Seals & Young (2003) investigated relationships between bullying and victimization with gender, grade level, ethnicity, self-esteem, and depression. Results showed that victims reported lower levels of self-esteem than did bullies and nonbullies/nonvictims. Additionally, victims had the highest depression scores as compared to bullies and nonbullies/nonvictims. Research progress has also been made into recent mediums of victimization and bullying, notably online victimization. A study conducted by Mitchell ''et al.'' in 2007 collected data from over 2000 adolescents through telephone interviews. The most surprising finding was that those who reported being subject to online victimization in the past year are 96% likely to also report being subject to physical (offline) victimization.Pdf.
/ref> Another study conducted with over 3000 youth in the 5th, 8th and 11th grades using surveys concluded that Internet victimization shares common causal pathways with physical and verbal victimization.


Controversy

An interest in aspects of bullying sprouted in the 1990s due to media coverage of student suicides, peer beatings, and school shootings. Yet such negative outcomes are rare. One of the most well-known cases concerning the effects of peer victimization is the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
of 1999 in Columbine,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The perpetrators of this incident,
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebold ...
, murdered 12 students and 1 teacher and also injured 21 other students before committing suicide. After the tragedy, details emerged showing that Harris and Klebold had been bullied for years by classmates, with little to no intervention by school officials. Though such events are not frequent, they do alarming damage. There has been a recent surge in the number of incidents regarding peer victimization and homosexuality. Specifically, the news has recently highlighted many cases of
lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
and
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
(
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
) students who have committed suicide in response to peer victimization. One such incident is the case of 18-year-old
Tyler Clementi Tyler Clementi (December 19, 1991 – September 22, 2010) was an American student at Rutgers University–New Brunswick who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River at the age of 18, on September 22, 2010. On S ...
, a Rutgers University student who was secretly videotaped by his roommate,
Dharun Ravi ''State of New Jersey vs. Dharun Ravi'' was a criminal trial held in Middlesex County, New Jersey, New Jersey Superior Court, Superior Court from February 24, 2012, to March 16, 2012, in which former Rutgers University Undergraduate education#Uni ...
, having sexual intercourse with another man. Ravi and another hallmate also streamed the video of the sexual encounter online. After finding out about this, Clementi jumped off of the
George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United St ...
to his death. Reports claim that Clementi had filed a complaint about his roommate having previously violating his privacy in the same manner, but no action had been taken to replace Clementi's roommate. Research demonstrates that lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) students are highly likely to be victimized. Over half of LGB participants were verbally abused when they were in high school, and 11% were physically assaulted in a study by D’Augelli et al. (2002). Negative outcomes such as mental health problems and poor school performance have been associated with high incidence of victimization of LGB students. Recently research in this area seems to be progressing from the investigation of the extent and effects of LGB victimization to the specific factors associated with victimization and negative outcomes. A study by Goodenow et al. (2006) was one of the first to examine which school-related factors were associated with lower rates of victimization and suicidality in this population. School related factors included the presence of LGB support groups and staff support as well as other school characteristics like student-to-teacher ratio. It was found that LGB support groups were associated with both low victimization and suicidality among LGB students. Results indicated that the existence of LGB support groups may have led to a decrease in suicidality through decreasing incidence of peer victimization as the association between LGB support groups and suicidality disappeared when victimization was controlled for. Yet as this study examined correlations, causality cannot be assumed. Student courts were associated with less victimization, and antibullying policies were associated with less suicidality, even when the effects of victimization and perceived support were taken into account. Lower levels of victimization and suicidality of LGB students was also associated with large school size and urban locale. These school-related factors have traditionally been associated with a generally safer school environment, yet it seems that factors that increase safety for the general population may not increase safety for LGB students. A study by Kosciw et al. (2009) investigated how school related factors, community factors (such as adult education and income level), and locational factors (on a national level) were associated with victimization of LGB students. Results showed that community factors were the most significantly related to victimization and many regional-level as well as school-related factors were not found to be significant once these factors were taken into account. Increased reports of victimization due to gender expression were found in communities with higher poverty levels compared to affluent communities. Youth from communities with higher as opposed to lower proportions of adults with college degrees also reported less victimization. In accordance with the Goodenow study, It was also found that youth from urban communities were less likely to be victimized than those from rural communities.


Applications

The results of these studies show a strong need for intervention programs, specifically in-school programs. Though most schools punish bullying through disciplinary action, the frequency of bullying and victimization remains high. Thus, newer, more effective strategies must be implemented. Such programs should not only focus on punishing the bully, but should also focus on the victim. Victims should be taught to use healthier coping strategies instead of internalizing and externalizing their feelings. One intervention program focuses on bullying prevention in positive behavior support (BP-PBS). BP-PBS is designed to, in a series of steps, teach students how to treat each other respectfully, as well as teach ways to minimize social reinforcement of bullying behaviors in order to improve the school atmosphere. Ross and Horner (2009) investigated the effectiveness of this program across three elementary schools in Oregon by focusing on 6 students. Also see
handbook.
/ref> They collected baseline data for the frequency of bullying as well as victim and bystander responses and then implemented the program across these school for approximately 8–12 weeks. Results showed that the frequency of bullying behaviors was significantly reduced among these students and that there was also a significant increase in more appropriate responses from victims and bystanders. Thus, interventions like BP-PBS may be effective in alleviating the problem of bullying and victimization in schools. To really test this, such programs should be put into effect nationally. Effective counseling are also a necessary component of dealing with peer victimization in schools. The most important step to successful counseling is identifying the children who are being victimized. While physical victimization can be easily noticed, for example by the presence of bruises and scratches, relational victimization is harder to detect. It is difficult to realize what children are being ostracized or ridiculed, especially if the student doesn't vocalize this treatment. Disciplining relational victimization is also a difficult task. Whereas physical victimization is usually punished with a school suspension, for example, it would seem ridiculous to respond to relational victimization with the same punishment. Because of such discrepancies, it is important to create and implement effective strategies for dealing with relational victimization.


Trivia

In a study evaluating the effectiveness of this program, Bauer, Lozano, & Rivara (2007) found that the Olweus program had "mixed positive effects"; specifically, there was a 28% decrease in relational victimization and a 37% decrease in physical victimization.


See also

*
Bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
*
Bullying and emotional intelligence Bullying is abusive social interaction between peers and can include aggression, harassment, and violence. Bullying is typically repetitive and enacted by those who are in a position of power over the victim. A growing body of research illustr ...
*
Cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
*
Gay bashing Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It includes both violence against LGBT people and LGBT bullying. The term covers v ...
*
Victimization Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer victimisati ...


References


External links


National Center for School Engagement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peer Victimization Social rejection Abuse Bullying Victimology