Kelsey Peters

PSY 361: Final Research Paper

School bullying has been an epidemic internationally for decades that was not receiving

the attention it deserved. Adults expected students to report bullying incidents, but students did

not want to ruin their reputations. That being said, school bullying was supposedly nonexistent

because nobody wanted to talk about it. The research and recognition of school bullying and the

way that it affected students did not interest psychologists until the late 1970s. Since then, school

bullying has evolved by developing new forms of bullying while also establishing numerous

prevention programs. Though school bullying is now being recognized, it is not being stopped

entirely like one would expect.

The topic of bullying, specifically in schools, sparks my interest because of my goal of

being a school social worker for an elementary or middle school. As one of the millions of

students who experienced school bullying myself, I have known that this was a harmful problem

for years. I have watched it corrupt young people’s social lives, their personalities, and the way

that they treat others. It has become a norm in schools, which is absolutely unacceptable. I have

learned throughout my college career, along with experiencing it firsthand, that the way peers are

around each other at child and adolescent development shapes the way that they will be as

individuals. I refuse to be in my school and watch students treat other students poorly.

Though I plan on diving into topics other than school bullying with my future clients, I

know from my Child Development and Adolescent Psychology courses at Depaul University that

peers are most important to them. They mock their behaviors, care deeply about what they think,

and begin to understand the idea of social cliques. Not to mention, I have experienced many

parents in denial that their children would ever bully someone. I have even noticed teachers

ignoring bullying incidents because they cannot differentiate playful banter and hurtful remarks.
Overall, my interest in being a school social worker comes from adults not understanding the

importance and potential severity in children’s mental health, in addition to the suicide rate in

youth increasing. I hope to make a difference by encouraging them to talk about their feelings,

which can be difficult at this stage in life, with the comfort of knowing that they can trust me and

I am listening.

Dan Olweus, a Swedish researcher, was the first person to thoroughly research school

bullying (Berger, 2006). He defines school bullying as being “exposed repeatedly overtime to

negative actions from other students (Berger, 2006)”. All researchers agree that repetition, harm,

and power imbalance are the ingredients to a bully (Berger, 2006). It should be noted that the

phrase, power imbalance, is referring to being outnumbered, weaker, or more psychologically

unstable (Smith and Brain, 2000). Other researchers add that bullying is an abuse of power,

which is the differentiator between bullying and harmless joking (Hymel and Swearer, 2015).

Still, it can be difficult for adults to pinpoint this distinction when simply walking by. Instances

like this are what cause bullying to not be addressed and be detrimental to a young person’s

mental health.

Olweus started a lot of curiosity among researchers in the late 1970s. It began in the

Scandinavian countries because of his book, “Aggression in the Schools: Bullied and Whipping

Boys” (Smith and Brain, 2000). Within this book, he claimed that victims of bullying were

“hyperactive, impulsive, and experience more peer rejection, academic difficulties, and stressful

and harsh home environments (Hymel and Swearer, 2015)”. It can be assumed that the pain they

feel from the bullying incidents distract them from the important aspects of their lives. Imagine a

student who is being rejected at school and home, while their self-efficacy and academics suffer.

On top of that, imagine that student not being defended by teachers or parents because they could
not see that it was an intentionally hurtful incident. This is a recipe for a harmful mental state in

young people.

Olweus noticed the urgency of school bullying after three Norweigan boys who had been

bullied committed suicide in 1982 (Berger, 2006). This pushed the first national intervention

campaign against bullying in the 1980s (Smith and Brain, 2000). Intense research on the

terminology, prevalence, and types of bullying became more thorough and frequent from the

1980s through the early 2000s. There were other events that emphasized the impact of bullying

such as the death of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old who was murdered by her school bullies in 1997,

and the Columbine shooting in 1998 (Hymel and Swearer, 2015).

However, there was a brief decline in bullying research in 2005. From 1900-1979, there

were only 27 citations and 35 in the 1980s (Berger, 2006). It was not until the 1990s where

research tremendously increased to 289 citations (Berger, 2006). Although Olweus’ work from

the late 1970s through the 1980s was intriguing worldwide, it likely took time to gather

information which is why there were not any publications until the 1990s. January 1st, 2000,

through December 31, 2004, was the most successful time period for bullying research with 592

peer-reviewed articles, editorials, and book reviews published (Berger, 2006). In 2005, the

numbers went down to 136 publications with 53 of those publications being new information

gathered on school bullying (Berger, 2006). Japan suffered in research as well in the early 1900s

(Smith and Brain, 2000). This drastic decrease was said to be because of books and guides being

published that did not address bullies in the correct way (Berger, 2006). These publications

advise avoiding their bullies and boosting the bully’s self-esteem (Berger, 2006). Clearly, this

advice is not going to teach children the importance of self-love and courage. Japan began

research again because of the unfortunate increase in suicide rates (Smith and Brain, 2000),
which is why research worldwide has become important again. Not to mention, in today’s world,

the idea of cyberbullying opens up a new realm of research that is crucial.

Because bullying research was a new kind of research, there was a lot of disagreement of

the best way to go about efficiently gather information. It is especially difficult because of young

people being afraid to voice their opinions in fear of their bullies finding out they got them in

trouble. It was found that most researchers used self-reports because they can answer questions

privately and makes them more inclined to use their own voice (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). Self-

assessments are recorded based on observation to describe bullying incidents, which provides

different perspectives from the 85% of peers that are typically present when somebody is getting

bullied (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). Because of self-assessments, Chan (2006) found that there

are essentially two kinds of bullying: serial bullies and multiple victimization (Hymel and

Swearer, 2015). Serial bullies are seen as bullies by many people, while multiple victimization is

numerous bullies bullying the same person repetitively (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). This

measurement helped put perpetrators into categories based on what students were reporting.

There was also the argument of the number of participants in a study. Some argued that it would

not be helpful to have a plethora of participants because there are so many different influences

and factors for everybody, and there is never one reason (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). Although

that makes prevention more difficult, it is important to note all of the reasons why bullying takes

place so we can attempt to address all of the issues to stop it.

Within this research was the discoveries of types of bullying. First, there is physical

bullying which involves hitting, kicking, or beating (Berger, 2006). This is surprisingly the main

form of bullying that adults have trouble differing with friendly fighting (Berger, 2006). This is

why phrases such as, “Boys will be boys,” are not healthy because the students will begin to
believe that themselves. Second, there is behavioral bullying, such as stealing one’s lunch

money, that is similar to physical bullying (Berger, 2006). An unfortunate example of this is a

young boy from Chicago ended his own life because of a classmate pouring chocolate milk over

his favorite sweater in 1993 (Berger, 2006). This reason may be seen as silly to children and

adults, but it may only take one act of bullying to break a young person’s heart.

Continuing with the third form of bullying, verbal bullying is verbally insulting or

demeaning a victim (Berger, 2006). This form of bullying becomes more common as children

get older unlike physical bullying (Berger, 2006). Tapper and Boulton (2005) put microphones

and video cameras on 7-11 year-olds only to find that verbal aggression was twice as likely to

happen than physical aggression (Berger, 2006). Additionally, Benbenishty and Astor (2005)

gave surveys to children in Israel and Los Angeles found that much more children were mocked,

insulted, or humiliated at least once a month than they physically hurt (Berger, 2006). Fourth is

recreational bullying, where children intentionally embarrass classmates by ignoring or avoiding

them, repeating hurtful gossip, or excluding them from their peer group (Berger, 2006).

Surprisingly enough, this can start during preschool but becomes more common in puberty

because of the importance of being liked by peers and forming social cliques (Berger, 2006).

Finally, the most recent form of bullying is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become extremely

common because of the enhancement of technology. Apps where students are able to

communicate with each other are always developing, which makes for more opportunities for

students to hide behind a screen and tear somebody down. Cyberbullying is definitely a

concerning form of bullying because the whole world can see students’ posts (Berger, 2006), and

it can be difficult to track down who the perpetrator is since one could easily create a fake
profile. Just when we thought four forms of bullying was bad, society has unintentionally formed

another type making the future of bullying as time goes on quite terrifying.

The prevalence of school bullying is horrifying, yet not entirely surprising. Depending on

the participants, the results will always vary but the ideal scenario would that there would be 0%

students bullied worldwide; however, it is simply not the case. 10-33% of students report

victimization from their classmates; in other words, those students have felt humiliated, betrayed,

or mocked by their peers (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). 5-13% reported that they bullied others

(Hymel and Swearer, 2015). Vaillancourt and Trinh’s (2010) study on grade 4-12 students

reported 31% physical bullying victims, 12% cyberbullying victims, 51% verbally bullied

victims, and 37% socially bullied victims (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). The four forms of

bullying have decreased overtime, but cyberbullying is unfortunately becoming more popular

(Hymel and Swearer, 2015). Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, and Hamby (2010) found that among

the youth in the United States, there were 22% victims in 2003 that decreased to 15% in 2008

(Hymel and Swearer, 2015); however, Jones, Mitchell, and Finkelhor (2013) reported that

cyberbullying increased from 6% in 2000 to 11% in 2010 (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). It is

difficult to know when the numbers will decline without knowing what the future holds for

technology.

Interestingly, even as years pass, bullying victims can still be remembered as victims.

Scholte, Engels, Overbeek, de Kemp, and Haselager (2007) reported 43% of 10-13 year-olds to

still be considered victims 3 years later (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). This goes to show how

much of an impact bullies make on development. Their cognitive skills have evolved at these

stages, so now students are being remembered as a poor character. It also shows that despite the
growing that they have done in 3 years, in this case, the memories that they have throughout their

childhood and adolescence can sincerely stick with them.

In regards to the psychology behind the bullies and the victims, there have been

interesting findings. Smorti and Ciucci noted that victims lack control and are afraid of those

with power, while bullies essentially feel rejuvenated the more power that they have (Smith and

Brain, 2000). Additionally, O’Moore found that the self-esteem of others was nearly the same

among victims but differed with bullies (Smith and Brain, 2000). This may be because while

some bullies gain pride with the power they obtain, others may dislike that this is how they are.

This could be the result of a poor family background, for instance.

Overall, the age group that school bullying is most prominent is during middle school;

though, school bullying starts as early as preschool (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). However, there

are gender differences in school bullying which is likely because boys are naturally seen as more

tough while girls are more fragile. Boys tend to be more physical with each other and girls are

more verbally aggressive. Sure enough, the stereotypes match the truth. Boys typically report

more bullies than girls, while girls report more victimization (Hymel and Swearer, 2015). 12% of

boys and 6% of girls were reported to consistently be bullied from ages 8-16 (Hymel and

Swearer, 2015). Girls experience more indirect bullying, which is bullying behind somebody’s

back (Smith and Brain, 2000). While boys are typically more physical with each other, girls

struggle with relational, verbal, and cyber bullying (Hymel and Swearer, 2015).

Addressing the prevalence of school bullying worldwide could help each individual

school not be ashamed that their school consists of bullies and bully victims (Smith and Brain,

2000). As we have researched, millions of schools unfortunately consist of school bullying

problems which makes school boards more likely to form prevention programs without the
notion of their school being incompetent. Not to mention, it can encourage parents to start

approaching their children about bullying first and being a positive influence for them. Adults

are expecting too much from their children in regards to school bullying because they likely will

not be the first to approach an adult about a personal problem (Hymel and Swearer, 2015).

However, if parents and teachers establish a positive and nurturing relationship with their

children or students, they are much more likely to approach them with a problem (Hymel and

Swearer, 2015). Although children and adolescents have to be the ones willing to tell adults of

their issues, adults can do their best to try and create an atmosphere that will be emotionally

comforting.

Fortunately, there have been countless prevention programs in an attempt to end bullying

from the 1980s until now. Olweus’ work contributed to international preventions to end bullying

and remind the youth that there are always people that are willing to help. In Scotland, Mellor

(1990) led the packs “Action Against Bullying” in 1991, and “Supporting Schools Against

Bullying” in 1993 (Smith and Brain, 2000). Tattum (1993) in Wales formulated many books and

videos in regards to school bullying, and established the Anti-Bullying Unit in Cardiff (Smith

and Brain, 2000). Byrne (1999) in Dublin established guidelines to end school bullying to the

Ministry of Education in Dublin in 1993 (Smith and Brain, 2000). They additionally set up an

Anti-Bullying Centre at Trinity College in Dublin, so bullying interventions are not limited to

primary schools (Smith and Brain, 2000). Smith and Sharp (1994) led the pack, “Don’t Suffer in

Silence,” in the United Kingdom, which was a school-based intervention available to schools

nationally (Smith and Brain, 2000). In Australia, Slee (1996) created the P.E.A.C.E pack, and

Sullivan (1999) created the Kia Kaha program in New Zealand (Smith and Brain, 2000). After

the decline in bullying research had ended, President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and the
Department of Education hosted the U.S. White House Conference on Bullying, which invited

scholars to discuss current research on school bullying to plan for future research and prevention

(Hymel and Swearer, 2015). This is just to name a small portion of the intervention programs

that continue to grow each day.

Although it is not surprising to me that school bullying is a historical and an ongoing

problem, the statistics are certainly alarming. As mentioned, peers are extremely important in a

child’s development. They are people that are their same age who they spend majority of their

year with making them all influences on each other. If an individual is consistently being

ridiculed by their influences, they are going to begin to believe the insults bullies say to them.

This is why the suicide rate is increasing every day.

Those young people whose lives ended much too soon certainly had a change in

neurobiological functioning, which in turn changes their behaviors (Hymel and Swearer, 2015).

Being with negative people creates a negative attitude towards themselves and life in general. To

think about young people having such low life satisfaction is extremely disheartening, which is a

huge motivator to be the best school social worker I can be. Clearly, research on school bullying

should never end because with cyberbullying on the rise, it certainly has the potential to get

worse. My hope is to encourage my students to partake in prevention programs and create a

school-based intervention program within the school that I will be residing. I hope to build a

sense of trust with my students, so that they can comfortably talk to me about their bullies and

advise them on how to properly confront their bullies. If I can change one student’s life, then I

will feel as though I have done my job successfully.

Schuster (1999) recorded that almost all classrooms had at least one individual that

everyone considered a victim (Smith and Brain, 2000). School is a place where students should
be eager to learn and even develop healthy social skills along the way. Childhood and

adolescence are crucial developmental stages where they learn more about themselves and

others. These stages should not begin with thinking lowly of themselves and others because that

is setting up for a negative expectation of life. It is quite possible that children who begin

bullying heard it from an adult first, whether it was on television, overhearing a conversation, or

a violent video game, so that is a huge change that should be made. Adults are educated enough

to understand that they cannot treat or expose children to inappropriate behavior. The harsh truth

is that it can result in depression, anxiety, or suicide. As Olweus wrote, “not all aggression is

bullying, but bullying is always aggression (Berger, 2006)”.

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