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Arizbel Falcon

English 1032-223

Mr. Powers

March 6, 2024

The Cycle of Bullying: Research Analysis Essay, Final Draft, Revised Essay

Bullying is something that most, if not all, people have gone through once in their lives.

Currently bullying can be so broad and found anywhere as there are so many different types of

bullying on its own. As big of a problem that it sounds like, there are not many resources that can

help stop or even prevent bullying, and if there is they are not very effective. There isn’t as

much of a call to stopping bullying as there should be, in or out of school, making it just a cycle

that will continue if nothing is done to stop the problem. The cycle of Bullying is an endless

cycle because of the different forms of bullying, limited resources available to victims, and the

overall tole towards bullying.

According to researchers, kids who were the victim or the bully in the situation had more

suicidal thoughts than those who have never been in that situation before. This was because they

were more likely to attempt suicide than those who had not experienced such forms of peer

aggression. Researchers such as Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin argue that there should

be more of a call to adolescent aggression and must be taken seriously. (206) Verbal Bullying,

another form of this problem, is the most common form and is linked to the bully wanting to gain
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popularity in the end. Bullying and generalized aggression may be used to both seek and

maintain popularity, bullies both desire and obtain popularity. (36) Kids are mainly found using

Verbal Bullying as a coping mechanism for not getting the attention they should be getting at

home. Most kids who are found bullying are neglected by their parents and bash their energy to

others who can’t find help. In these cases, kids who are found to be bullies are more prone to

mental health problems. Researcher Swearer staters “... those who shifted from victimization to

bullying reported more anxiety, depression, and somatization.” (344) Once bullying is in effect it

can make the victim turn into the bully itself and create a cycle.

There are many Anti-Bullying programs made to give awareness to these kids in schools.

When it comes to trying to stop bullying, they usually fail at that. For researcher Palladino, they

state that though they did too many trials in Anti-Bullying programs, overall, it depends on the

budget of the show they give for students. (194) (put analysis between these two quotes) Though,

if it isn’t that obvious, schools that have a lower amount in budget their employees aren’t as

engaged with students or the school in general, which Rothbart claims in their research. (28) The

implementation of Anti-bullying interventions pays attention to various aspects of adolescents

holistically such as physical, psychological, social and cultural. (Hikmat 304) Hikmat suggests in

their article that if most schools want a positive outcome to stopping bullying, everyone should

be involved with these programs. When certain schools don’t have the employees that want to be

there is going to be no doubt that they aren’t going to want to participate in these sorts of events.

(28) If there aren’t people who can be an advocate to these victims then there is going to be a

never-ending loop to this problem. (21)

Bullying has been linked to how they are being shown to act in their homes, including

family members’ involvement in gangs, poor parental supervision, negative family environment,
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parental conflict, domestic violence, low parental communication, lack of parent emotional

support, authoritarian parenting, inappropriate discipline, and parental abuse, states researcher

Swearer. Swearer also states that kids that are known for being bullies are 61% more likely to be

treated like this at home, meaning they let their anger out to the kids who can’t fight back with

the same power. Bullying is all about status in school, it's either you wanted to be cool so you

were “the bigger person” and would pick on others or you were weak and would be the victim.

(185) Bystanders are in consideration to in these situations, they can distance themselves from

the bullies or defend the victims. Research has shown that bystanders can be trapped in a social

conflict; they may claim to be against bullying but might also want to defend themselves and

maintain their own status. (Palladino 195) Victims of bullying tend to stay away from school if

they are being bullied. (Dowling 799) With this information you can see that victims don’t want

to be attending a school where they can’t find help themselves getting out of this situation. With

victims not wanting to go to schools and Bullies having these types of situations at home all you

can do is feel bad for these kids and the disaster they must face daily. Results from a study

indicated that the more adolescents deviated from their classroom's norm at the start of the

school year, the more likely they were to be increasingly victimized throughout the school year.

(Kaufman 1470)

Bullying is not just an act kids do throughout the years of their school age. It is a form of

aggression and wanting attention, but also an act of trying to look their best in front of everyone.

These are just normal, and everyone goes through even in adult life. There should be something

done about this problem, not for the children but for the next generation of society. If there is a

call to better budgeting for schools and Anti-bullying programs, there will people who want to

help these kids fight the war on bullying. Creating safe and hostile environments for children to
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act on in and educating teachers, students, and adults the importance of intervention is key. This

is not a problem that should be taken ever so lightly but a problem that needs to be acted on now.
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Work Cited

Dowling, Mitchell J., and Timothy A. Carey. “VICTIMS OF BULLYING: WHOM THEY

SEEK HELP FROM AND WHY: AN AUSTRALIAN SAMPLE.” Psychology in the

Schools, vol. 50, no. 8, 2013, pp. 798–809, https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21709.

Hikmat, Rohman, et al. “A Scoping Review of Anti-Bullying Interventions: Reducing

Traumatic Effect of Bullying Among Adolescents.” Journal of Multidisciplinary

Healthcare, vol. 17, 2024, pp. 289–304, https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S443841.

Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Patchin. “Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide.” Archives of

Suicide Research, vol. 14, no. 3, 2010, pp. 206–21,

https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2010.494133.

Kaufman, Tessa M. L., et al. “Are Victims of Bullying Primarily Social Outcasts? Person‐

group Dissimilarities in Relational, Socio‐behavioral, and Physical Characteristics

as Predictors of Victimization.” Child Development, vol. 93, no. 5, 2022, pp. 1458–

74, https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13772.

Ojanen, Tiina, et al. “Is Bullying Always about Status? Status Goals, Forms of Bullying,

Popularity and Peer Rejection during Adolescence.” The Journal of Genetic

Psychology, vol. 185, no. 1, 2024, pp. 36–49,

https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2023.2254347.

Palladino, Benedetta E., et al. “Evidence-Based Intervention against Bullying and

Cyberbullying: Evaluation of the NoTrap! Program in Two Independent Trials.”

Aggressive Behavior, vol. 42, no. 2, 2016, pp. 194–206,

https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21636.
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Rothbart, Michah W. “The Impact of School Choice on Public School Budgets: Evidence

From Open Enrollment in New York City.” Public Budgeting & Finance, vol. 40, no. 4,

2020, pp. 3–37, https://doi.org/10.1111/pbaf.12267.

Swearer, Susan M., and Shelley Hymel. “Understanding the Psychology of Bullying: Moving

Toward a Social-Ecological Diathesis-Stress Model.” American Psychologist, vol.

70, no. 4, 2015, pp. 344–53, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038929.