Bullying, Violence, and Risk Behavior in South African School Students

• NCJ Number: 218019
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2007 Pages: 161-171
• Author(s): Holan Liang; Alan J. Flisher; Carl J. Lombard
• Date Published: February 2007
• Length: 11 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: World Health Organization; United Nations Development Programme; South Africa Medical Research Council Cape Town; University of Cape Town
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The purpose of this study was to report on the prevalence rates of South African adolescent involvement in bullying, either as victims, bullies, or bully-victims and to investigate whether these bullying behavior categories differentiated levels of violent, antisocial, or risk taking behaviors.

Abstract

Results confirm that bullying is a serious problem in South Africa with involvement of 36.3 percent of all students. Consistent with previous studies, bullies had the highest odds ratio for drinking alcohol and were more likely to engage in violent, antisocial, and risk-taking behaviors compared to controls. However, victims of bullying were also found to exhibit significantly higher levels of violent and antisocial behaviors compared to controls. Bully-victims were strongly at risk of all the violent and antisocial behavior variables studied compared to controls. The results confirm that bullying is a common problem among South African adolescents and add to the existing literature suggesting that involvement in bully and victim problems can act as indicators for other behavioral difficulties with violent and antisocial behavior increased in both bullies and their victims. Knowledge of the high levels of bullying behavior in students in South Africa helps establish the severity of the problem. This is important in view of its potential long-term adverse consequences, and in making decisions about resource allocation. Knowledge of whether violent and risky behaviors are associated with particular groups of adolescents who are bullies or have been bullied, helps identify high-risk groups for the targeting of preventive strategies. A self-report questionnaire on participation in bullying, violent, antisocial, and risk behaviors was completed by 5,074 schoolchildren in grade 8 and 11 at 72 government schools in Cape Town and Durban, South Africa. Tables, references