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School bullying

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 School bullying

Alana James
PhD Researcher (Goldsmiths, University of London, NSPCC)

February 2010

Summary

Bullying is a pervasive type of aggression, which often occurs in schools. As with other types
of aggression, the harm that is inflicted – whether physical, emotional or both – is intentional.
However, bullying has defining features which set it apart from other aggressive behaviours,
in that it is repeated, and that the bully or bullies have greater access to power than their
victim(s).

In this briefing, ‘bullying’ refers to peer-to-peer bullying within the school context. School
bullying has been a topic of both public concern and academic research only since the 1970s.
It is still an expanding field of study and much remains to be established in terms of the
causes, the characteristics of those involved and what makes an effective anti-bullying
intervention.

There is great variation in the prevalence rates reported in studies of bullying, and although
factors at the individual and social levels appear to be important, it is still unclear what causes
it. Nevertheless, most children will experience bullying at some point, either as bullies,
victims or witnesses.

Children who bully others, children who are victimised and children who both bully and are
bullied, share a number of common characteristics and all are likely to suffer negative long-
term consequences. Important factors appear to be family and peer relationships.

1
Bullying can be seen as a group process, with the peer group playing an important role: other
pupils’ behaviour can reinforce, condone or help to stop bullying, and so it can be more likely
in some classes or years than others. However, more research is needed to uncover the exact
nature of the group processes involved in school bullying, and how they interact with
individual differences.

Key Findings

• Large-scale surveys of bullying around the world report victimisation rates of between 9
and 32 per cent, and bullying rates of between 3 and 27 per cent (Stassen Berger, 2007).

• Verbal abuse is the most commonly reported type of bullying, but ‘cyberbullying’, which
typically happens outside of school, is becoming an increasingly significant issue.

• There are different terms for bullying in different countries, and different types of
behaviour involved.

• Victimisation decreases with age, although there is an initial peak during the transition
from primary to secondary school.

• Boys are more likely to be involved in physical bullying, and girls in verbal and relational
bullying. It is unclear whether there are any consistent age or gender trends within
cyberbullying.

• Family and peer relationships have been identified as important factors for bullies as well
as victims and ‘bully/victims’ (i.e. those who bully and are also bullied themselves).
Bullying has long-term negative consequences for all three groups.

• Bullying is a group process. It normally happens in front of other children, who play
important roles in incidents of bullying, so that bullying can be more likely in some
classes or years than others.

2
• Many victims of bullying do not report it to a teacher, but in the experience of those who
do, some may help while others make no difference or even make the bullying worse.
Teachers report intervening in most incidents of bullying, but pupils do not perceive this
to be the case.

• Schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are required by law to have an anti-
bullying policy, though the content varies from school to school. In Scotland schools are
strongly recommended to have a policy. A range of anti-bullying interventions are used
across the UK nations.

3
Background

Dan Olweus’ Swedish study of ‘mobbning’, Aggression in the schools: Bullies and whipping
boys (1978), was the first notable bullying study. Since its publication a research tradition has
emerged in many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States,
Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Japan. Other early studies attracted a lot
of media attention due to the levels of bullying reported, as well as high-profile suicide cases
linked to bullying in several countries. Bullying remains a topic often in the news, which
highlights the ongoing public concern and continual need for anti-bullying work in schools.

This research briefing summarises what is currently known about school bullying, based on a
review of the available literature. It covers large-scale surveys of bullying as well as smaller
studies, which used a variety of methodologies. It also mentions the types of anti-bullying
interventions currently used, but an evaluation of their effectiveness was beyond the scope of
this briefing.

What is bullying?

Essential components of bullying behaviour

The studies examined for this briefing used different definitions of bullying, but overall the
literature suggests five essential components. The following components are shared with
general aggressive behaviour:

• Intention to harm: bullying is deliberate, with the intention to cause harm. For example,
friends teasing each other in a good-natured way is not bullying, but a person teasing
another to upset them is bullying.
• Harmful outcome: one or more persons are hurt physically or emotionally.
• Direct or indirect acts: bullying can involve direct aggression, such as hitting someone,
as well as indirect acts, such as spreading rumours.
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However, bullying also has characteristics that set it apart from other aggressive behaviours:

• Repetition: bullying involves repeated acts of aggression: an isolated aggressive act, like
a fight, is not bullying.
• Unequal Power: bullying involves the abuse of power by one or several persons who are
(perceived as) more powerful, often due to their age, physical strength, or psychological
resilience.

Types of bullying

Bullying can involve many different types of behaviour. Physical, or ‘direct’ bullying hurts an
individual in a tangible way, but ‘indirect’ actions such as stealing or damaging their
belongings can hurt them emotionally. This also applies to verbal bullying, which involves
name-calling or being otherwise insulted or humiliated. Relational or social bullying refers to
behaviours that disrupt the victims’ relationships with their peers (Crick and Grotpeter, 1995),
such as social exclusion or spreading gossip. Bullying can be motivated by race, religion,
culture, gender or sexuality. Sexual bullying may involve sexual acts or demands.

Cyberbullying, a relatively more recent phenomenon that has attracted increasing attention in
the last decade, involves using electronic means such as the internet, email and mobile
phones. It is particularly vicious, as nasty messages or images can be spread quickly and seen
by many. Research evidence suggests that it tends to happen outside of school (Ybarra and
Mitchell, 2004; Dehue, Bolman and Vollink, 2008; Smith et al, 2008a).

Bullying in different countries

Pupils in different countries have different perceptions of what counts as bullying (Smith et
al, 2002). Even within countries, there are often multiple terms to describe the behaviour: in
England, bullying is also described as ‘teasing’, ‘harassment’ and ‘victimisation’.

5
In western countries, bullying broadly involves older pupils victimising younger children,
largely by physical and verbal means (Smith, 2004). In contrast, wang-ta in Korea and ijime
in Japan involve social exclusion by large groups such as the victim’s entire class, or year
(Morita et al, 1999; Kanetsuna and Smith, 2002; Koo et al, 2008).

Teachers’ and pupils’ definitions of bullying

Teachers are less likely than pupils to recognise verbal aggression, indirect physical
aggression and social exclusion as bullying (Boulton, 1997; Craig and Pepler, 1997; Craig et
al, 2000; Menesini et al, 2002).

Primary school children tend to include a greater range of behaviours, such as one-off acts of
aggression, but pupils’ definitions of bullying become narrower with age (Smith and Levan,
1995; Swain, 1998; Smith et al, 2002; Menesini et al, 2002; Naylor et al, 2006).

How common is bullying in schools?

Overall it seems that bullying can be expected to occur in any school. Its prevalence in many
countries suggests that most children will experience school bullying at some stage, be it as
bullies, victims or as witnesses.

There is a lot of variation in the reported rates, however, which is partly due to the different
methodologies used to survey bullying. The most common method is self-reporting: asking
pupils in questionnaires or interviews about their bullying experiences. Other ways include
asking teachers or pupils to nominate which children are victims or bullies; observing
children; and recording bullying incidents. Different methods produce different bullying
estimates: peer and teacher nominations tend not to correspond well with self-report
information (Österman et al, 1994; Salmivalli et al, 1996) and observations produce higher
rates than surveys (Pepler et al, 2004).
6
Large-scale surveys in individual countries have reported victimisation rates of 9 to 32 per
cent, and bullying rates of 3 to 27 per cent (Stassen Berger, 2007). In the World Health
Organisation’s Health Behavior in School-Aged Children 2001/02, a survey of 35 countries,
the average incidence rates of victims and bullies were both 11 per cent (Craig and Harel,
2004, cited by Salmivalli, 2009).

How common are the different types of bullying?

Research shows that verbal abuse is the most common form of bullying, followed by
relational and physical forms (Baldry and Farrington, 1999; Tapper and Boulton, 2005;
Stassen Berger, 2007). Sexual bullying and dating aggression have similar levels to general
bullying (Pepler et al, 2006). Levels of cyberbullying are more difficult to gauge: each time a
malicious image or message is viewed could count as a separate incident. Overall, levels of
cyberbullying appear to be increasing (e.g. DCSF, 2009).

Age and gender differences in bullying

Overall, bullying decreases with age, although there is an initial increase when pupils
transition from primary to secondary school (Olweus, 1993; Smith et al, 1999; Pellegrini and
Long, 2002; Salmivalli, 2002; Griffin and Gross, 2004; Pepler et al, 2006). As children grow
older they develop better social skills, which seem to protect them against bullying (Smith et
al, 1999) - there are also fewer pupils who might bully them, as bullies are typically older
pupils (Smith, et al, 1999; Carney and Merrell, 2001; Griffin and Gross, 2004).

Early research suggests that boys are more likely to be involved in bullying, but later studies,
which include indirect forms of bullying, show less of a gender difference (Craig, 1998;
Stassen Berger, 2007). Girls are more involved in verbal and relational bullying, and boys in
physical (Reid et al, 2004; Stassen Berger, 2007). As yet it is unclear whether there are
consistent age or gender trends in cyberbullying.
7
There are no defined ‘types’ of bullies or victims, but various studies have identified some
shared individual characteristics. Studies such as Ball et al (2008) have also looked at the role
played by genes, but more work is needed in this area.

Defining characteristics of bullies

Bullies are generally more aggressive than other pupils (Carney and Merrell, 2001; Smith,
2004; Schafer et al, 2005). Some have poor social skills, leading to difficulties in managing
positive relationships, but others have advanced social competence, which enables them to
manipulate others (Sutton et al, 1999; Vaillancourt et al, 2003). It is unclear whether bullies
have low self-esteem (Olweus, 1999; O’Moore, 2000; Smith, 2004), but they may well be
more likely to come from families with low parental monitoring and involvement, as well as
inconsistent and harsh discipline (Carney and Merrell, 2001; Pepler et al, 2008).

At primary school children tend to reject the bullies rather than the victims, but this reverses
at secondary school where bullies may be popular (Pellegrini, 1998; Schafer et al, 2005).
Bullies associate with peers who bully and are susceptible to peer pressure (Pepler et al,
2008).

Outcomes associated with bullying behaviour include loneliness, poor academic achievement,
poor social adjustment and greater risk of drug and alcohol use, and of being convicted of
crime (Olweus, 1997; Roberts, 2000; Nansel et al, 2001). Research also suggests a link with
later violence in adulthood; some bullies behave aggressively towards partners, use harsh
physical discipline with their own children, and their children are more likely to become
bullies themselves (Roberts, 2000; Carney and Merrell, 2001; Smokowski and Kopasz, 2005).

8
Defining characteristics of victims

The majority of victims can be described as passive. Risk factors that have been identified for
victimisation include peer-rejection, finding social situations difficult, and experiencing
loneliness (Crick and Grotpeter, 1995; Nansel et al, 2001; Schafer et al, 2005; Scheithauer et
al, 2006). Victims may understandably have poor self-esteem, and a greater tendency towards
depression and anxiety (Craig, 1998; Hawker and Boulton, 2000; Carney and Merrell, 2001).

Research suggests some victims may be more likely to have overprotective families (Smith,
2004) and to have experienced bullying from siblings (Duncan, 1999; Wolke and Samara,
2004). Children with disabilities are also at increased risk of victimisation (Nabuzoka, 2000;
Knox and Conti-Ramsden, 2003; Mishna, 2003).

Friendships act as a protective factor: having a number of meaningful friendships reduces the
risk of victimisation (Hodges et al, 1999; Schwartz et al, 2000; Goldbaum et al, 2003). Other
protective factors include high social competence, low aggression and low anxiety
(Goldbaum et al, 2003).

The impact of bullying in childhood can be long term. Some adult victims of childhood
bullying report experiencing depression, poor self-esteem and interpersonal difficulties in
adulthood (Hugh-Jones and Smith, 1999; Klomek et al, 2007). They may also be more prone
to suicidal thoughts, attempt suicide (Klomek et al, 2007; Kim et al, 2009), or carry out acts
of retribution (Carney and Merrell, 2001).

Characteristics of bully/victims

A small proportion of bullies can be described as ‘bully/victims’. These ‘provocative bullies’

are young people who bully others and are also bullied themselves. The proportion of this

9
type tends to be higher in primary than in secondary schools (Roland and Idsoe, 2001;
Schafer et al, 2005).

Bully/victims are more likely to have poor social skills and act in ways that go against the
norms of their peer group, such as behaving aggressively or interrupting other children
(Greene, 2000; Griffin and Gross, 2004). They may have low self-esteem, social
maladjustment, attention difficulties and poor problem-solving abilities (Mynard and Joseph,
1997; Carney and Merrell, 2001; Andreou, 2001). There is evidence that bully/victims come
from families where parenting is inconsistent, sometimes abusive, and low in warmth
(Bowers et al, 1994; Schwartz et al, 2000).

These children are less likely to have social support than ‘passive’ victims of bullying, and
therefore may also be at greater risk of more severe psychological problems resulting from it
(Griffin and Gross, 2004; Smith, 2004).

Participant roles in school bullying

School bullying normally occurs in the presence of the peer group and is a social process
(Cowie and Sharp, 1994; Craig and Pepler, 1995; Salmivalli et al, 1996; Pepler et al, 1998;
Salmivalli et al, 1999; Menesini et al, 2000). Children’s responses to bullying, and their
perceptions of themselves and of their own safety, are influenced by others (Salmivalli et al,
1998; Gini et al, 2008). The social context of individual classes or year groups can also
influence the likelihood of bullying (Sharp, 1996; Kärnä et al, in press). However, more
research is needed into the nature of the group process involved (Salmivalli, 2009).

The ‘participant role approach’ (Salmivalli, 1999) suggests that children are not just bullies
and/or victims in bullying: they may act as assistants of the bully - doing things that help,
such as acting as a lookout - or as reinforcers, encouraging the bullying. On the other hand,
they may be defenders, who try to stop it, or outsiders/bystanders, who neither encourage nor
intervene (Salmivalli et al, 1996).
10
Many anti-bullying interventions aim to change the behaviour of bystanders, encouraging
them to defend the victim. Encouragingly, the majority of children express anti-bullying or
pro-victim attitudes regardless of their actual behaviour when bullying occurs (Menesini et al,
1997; Boulton et al, 1999).

Reporting of bullying

Up to around 50 per cent of victims report the bullying to their school (Whitney and Smith,
1993; Craig et al, 2000; Fekkes et al, 2005). However, as with other forms of abuse, there are
a number who do not. This may be due to fear, lack of confidence, feeling that they are to
blame, or worry that telling an adult will make the bullying worse (Smith and Sharp, 1994;
Rigby, 1997; Rigby and Bagshaw, 2003). The proportion of victims who report it is lower for
boys and for older pupils (Smith and Shu, 2000).

While teachers report that they intervene in most bullying incidents, pupils perceive that they
do so much less (Pepler et al, 1994; Olweus, 1984), and that they do not care about bullying
(Rigby and Bagshaw, 2003). When teachers intervene they may help, make no difference or
indeed make the bullying worse (Smith and Shu, 2000; Kochenderfer-Ladd and Skinner,
2002; Rigby and Bagshaw, 2003; Fekkes et al, 2005). Hence, when bullying is reported there
is no guarantee it will stop. Maybe because of this, pupils often find that telling peers about
bullying is preferable to telling adults (Smith and Shu, 2000).

School Bullying Policies and Anti-bullying Interventions

Schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are legally required to have an anti-bullying
policy, and schools in Scotland are strongly recommended to have one. There are also many
anti-bullying resources for schools in the UK, for example the Safe to Learn initiative (DCSF,
2008).

11
Guidance for schools in England states that the policy must provide a definition of bullying,
procedures to follow and sanctions. However, there is wide variation in what is included in
each school’s policy (Smith et al, 2008b).

A wide range of anti-bullying interventions are used in schools, including circle time, drama
or role play, group work, peer support and education, restorative justice and support group
methods. Peer support initiatives, where some pupils are trained to offer support to others, are
particularly popular in the UK, with an estimated 62 per cent of all schools using this method
(Houlston et al, 2009). The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme has had particular
success in Norway, originally reducing bullying by 50 per cent (Olweus, 1993). However,
overall anti-bullying interventions have been less effective: a review of whole-school
interventions found that bullying was reduced on average by 23 per cent, and victimisation by
17 to 20 per cent (Farrington and Ttofi, 2009).

Conclusion

School bullying is pervasive and most children will probably experience it at some stage,
either as a witness, a victim, or by being a bully themselves. Large-scale surveys show that it
happens across the world, though it can involve different behaviours and have different
meanings in different countries. Telling someone usually helps, but this does depend upon
how well it is acted upon by the school.

Factors at both the individual and social level appear to be important causes of bullying.
Family and peer relationships have been identified as important for children who bully, are
victimised and are bully/victims. All three groups share some individual characteristics.

Bullying is a group process involving the whole peer group, and can be more likely to occur
in some classes or years than others. However, more research is needed to uncover the exact
nature of the group processes involved, and how they interact with individual differences.

12
Practice points

• Not all bullying is visible, so there may be more bullying in a school than teachers realise.

• Bullying peaks during the transition to secondary school, which means that anti-bullying
work is particularly needed with pupils in Year 7, and that pupils in this school year may
need more support from staff, parent/guardians and friends.

• Interventions by teachers usually help, but can also make the bullying worse: it is
important that interventions are handled sensitively and that staff do follow-up work with
victims to ensure that the bullying has stopped. Young people and parents or guardians
can ask the school to keep acting, until the bullying stops.

• Young people can also act to stop bullying, by defending the victims when bullying
happens, alerting members of staff, or joining a peer support scheme.

• Both victims and bullies may need long-term support from their school and parents and
guardians, as they could experience serious negative effects from being involved in
bullying.

• Parents, guardians and young people have the right to see a school’s anti-bullying policy,
and to make sure that it is implemented when bullying happens.

Policy recommendations

• Training should be made available to teachers and other school staff in how to recognise
bullying, and how to intervene effectively.

• It is very positive that most schools in the UK have an anti-bullying policy, but work is
needed to ensure consistency and comprehensiveness, so that all young people are

13
 afforded the same protection from bullying. It is recommended that having an anti-
bullying policy is made compulsory in Scotland.

• There are many different types of anti-bullying interventions, with varying reported
success. Schools need access to clear information on interventions, so that they can make
informed decisions about which approaches may work in their school. Further research is
needed into the effectiveness of different interventions.

14
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