Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In the last 20 years, public awareness of the problem of bullying has increased to the degree that legislation has been developed to protect youth in all 50 United States. Bullying is clearly harmful to students’ social, psychological, and academic functioning. Researchers are now challenged to prevent or reduce bullying and its negative effects. The potential that key stakeholders—peers, parents, schools, and new media—hold for stopping bullying is reviewed. The evidence from the large body of bullying research offers hope for many ways that stakeholders can produce meaningful reductions in bullying, when provided proper supports for their efforts.

Keywords

bullying peer victimization cyberbullying school climate school-based interventions

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

The American Academy of Pediatrics. (2009). Policy statement–role of the pediatrician in youth violence prevention. Pediatrics, 124, 393-402.

American Psychological Association. (2004). APA resolution on bullying among children and youth. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/policy/bullying.pdf

Bauman

Bellmore

(2015). New directions in cyberbullying research. Journal of School Violence, 14, 1-10. doi:10.1080/15388220.2014.968281

Bellmore

Calvin

Zhu

(2015). The 5 W’s of “bullying” on Twitter: Who, what, why, where, when. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 305-314. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.052

Bellmore

You

Hughes

(2012). A two-method investigation of sixth graders’ responses upon witnessing peer victimization at school. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1265-1276.

Bradshaw

C. P.

(2015). Translating research to practice in bullying prevention. American Psychologist, 70, 322-332. doi:10.1037/a0039114

Broll

Huey

(2015). “Just being mean to somebody isn’t a police matter”: Police perspectives on policing cyberbullying. Journal of School Violence, 14, 155-176. doi:10.1080/15388220.2013.879367

Bronfenbrenner

(1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Cohen

Freiberg

J. A.

(2013). School climate and bullying prevention. In Dary

Pickeral

(Eds.), School climate practices for implementation and sustainability (A School Climate Practice Brief, No. 1). (pp. 47-51). New York, NY: National School Climate Center.

10.

Cosgrove

H. E.

Nickerson

A. B.

(2015). Anti-bullying/harassment legislation and education perceptions of severity, effectiveness, and school climate: A cross-sectional analysis. Educational Policy. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0895904815604217

11.

Craig

W. M.

Pepler

D. J.

(1997). Observations of bullying and victimization in the school yard. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 13, 41-59. doi:10.1177/082957359801300205

12.

Davis

Randall

D. P.

Ambrose

Orand

(2015). “I was bullied too”: Stories of bullying and coping in an online community. Information, Communication & Society, 18, 357-375. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2014.952657

13.

deLara

E. W.

(2012). Why adolescents don’t disclose incidents of bullying and harassment. Journal of School Violence, 11, 288-305. doi:10.1080/15388220.2012.705931

14.

Espelage

D. L.

Swearer

S. M.

(2004). Bullying in American schools: A social-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

15.

Frey

K. S.

Pearson

C. R.

Cohen

(2015). Revenge is seductive, if not sweet: Why friends matter for prevention efforts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 37, 25-35. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2014.08.002

16.

Harcourt

Jaspere

Green

V. A.

(2014). “We were sad and we were angry”: A systematic review of parents’ perspectives on bullying. Child & Youth Care Forum, 43, 373-391. doi:10.1007/s10566-014-9243-4

17.

Hawkins

D. L.

Pepler

D. J.

Craig

W. M.

(2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10, 512-527.

18.

Hawley

P. H.

Williford

(2015). Articulating the theory of bullying intervention programs: Views from social psychology, social work, and organizational science. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 37, 3-15. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2014.11.006

19.

Healy

K. L.

Sanders

M. R.

(2014). Randomized controlled trial of a family intervention for children bullied by peers. Behavior Therapy, 45, 760-777. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2014.06.001

20.

Huitsing

Snijders

T. B.

Van Duijn

M. J.

Veenstra

(2014). Victims, bullies, and their defenders: A longitudinal study of the coevolution of positive and negative networks. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 645-659. doi:10.1017/S0954579414000297

21.

Juvonen

Graham

(2014). Bullying in schools: The power of bullies and the plight of victims. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 159-185. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115030

22.

Kowalski

R. M.

Giumetti

G. W.

Schroeder

A. N.

Lattanner

M. R.

(2014). Bullying in the digital age: A critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1073-1137. doi:10.1037/a0035618

23.

Lereya

S. T.

Samara

Wolke

(2013). Parenting behavior and the risk of becoming a victim and a bully/victim: A meta-analysis study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 1091-1108. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.03.001

24.

Lovegrove

Bellmore

Green

J. G.

Jens

Ostrov

(2013). “My voice is not going to be silent”: What can parents do about children’s bullying. Journal of School Violence, 12, 253-267. doi:10.1080/15388220.2013.792270

25.

Mishna

Pepler

Wiener

(2006). Factors associated with perceptions and responses to Bullying situations by children, parents, teachers, and principals. Victims & Offenders: An International Journal of Evidence-Based Research, Policy, and Practice, 1, 255-288.

26.

Nishina

(2012). Microcontextual characteristics of peer victimization experiences and adolescents’ daily well-being. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 191-201. doi:10.1007/s10964-011-9669-z

27.

Hazler

R. J.

(2009). Contributions of personal and situational factors to bystanders’ reactions to school bullying. School Psychology International, 30, 291-310.

28.

Olweus

(1993). Bullying at school. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

29.

Olweus

(2013). School bullying: Development and some important challenges. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 751-780. doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185516

30.

Pouwels

J. L.

Lansu

T. M.

Cillessen

A. N.

(2015). Participant roles of bullying in adolescence: Status characteristics, social behavior, and assignment criteria. Aggressive Behavior. Advance online publication. doi:10.1002/ab.21614

31.

Rogers

M. J.

Tisak

M. S.

(1996). Children’s reasoning about responses to peer aggression: Victim’s and witness’s expected and prescribed behaviors. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 259-269.

32.

Saarento

Boulton

A. J.

Salmivalli

(2015). Reducing bullying and victimization: Student- and classroom-level mechanisms of change. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43, 61-76. doi:10.1007/s10802-013-9841-x

33.

Salmivalli

(2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 112-120. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.007

34.

Salmivalli

Lagerspetz

Björkqvist

Österman

Kaukiainen

(1996). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 1-15.

35.

Salmivalli

Voeten

Poskiparta

(2011). Bystanders matter: Associations between reinforcing, defending, and the frequency of bullying behavior in classrooms. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40, 668-676. doi:10.1080/15374416.2011.597090

36.

Smith

P. K.

(2015). The nature of cyberbullying and what we can do about it. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 15, 176-184. doi:10.1111/1471-3802.12114

37.

Stavrinides

Nikiforou

Georgiou

(2015). Do mothers know? Longitudinal associations between parental knowledge, bullying, and victimization. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32, 180-196. doi:10.1177/0265407514525889

38.

Swearer

S. M.

Espelage

D. L.

Vaillancourt

Hymel

. (2010). What can be done about school bullying? Linking research to educational practice. Educational Researcher, 39, 38-47. doi:10.3102/0013189X09357622

39.

Thornberg

(2007). A classmate in distress: Schoolchildren as bystanders and their reasons for how they act. Social Psychology of Education, 10, 5-28.

40.

Toso

T. M.

(2012). Attacking bullying; an examination of anti-bullying legislation and policies. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A, 73.

41.

Ttofi

M. M.

Farrington

D. P.

(2011). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 7, 27-56. doi:10.1007/s11292-010-9109-1

42.

Vaught

S. E.

(2014). Structural liberalism and anti-bullying legislation. Equity & Excellence in Education, 47, 152-166. doi:10.1080/10665684.2014.900393

43.

The White House. (2011). Background on White House conference on bullying prevention. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/10/background-white-house-conference-bullying-prevention

44.

Wolke

Copeland

W. E.

Angold

Costello

E. J.

(2013). Impact of bullying in childhood on adult health, wealth, crime, and social outcomes. Psychological Science, 24, 1958-1970. doi:10.1177/0956797613481608

Whose Responsibility Is It to Stop Bullying?

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References