NCJ Number
214709
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 383-400
Date Published
June 2006
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This longitudinal study examined the association between three types of bullying victimization--verbal, physical, and social exclusion--and submissive/nonassertive social behavior of the victims (9-11 years old).
Abstract
The study's primary finding was that submissive/nonassertive social behavior predicted an increase in only bullying that involved social exclusion, i.e., refusing to accept the victim into group interactions that involved positive feedback about the individuals worth and likability. Being a victim of such bullying was found to intensify submissive/nonassertive behaviors over time. This finding suggests that social exclusion contributes to disrupted development of social skills in juveniles, which in turn makes social exclusion more likely. Gender emerged as a significant moderator of this pattern, in that social exclusion was a significant predictor of submissive/nonassertive social behavior for girls only. Additional work is needed to clarify whether and how gender moderates aggression and withdrawal in predicting victimization. This was a British study that involved 447 students (246 girls and 231 boys) from 4 primary schools in Stoke-on-Trent. Participants were administered an 11-item inventory. Eight items measured the submissive/nonassertive social behavior of victims of three types of bullying. Verbal bullying involved being called derogatory names by other kids for no reason. Physical bullying involved being hit and pushed by other kids for no reason, and social exclusion involved being left out of the group by other kids for no reason. For each item, the children were asked to name classmates who were victimized in these various ways. For each child, the number of selections they received for each type of bullying was the basis for determining whether they were predominately victims of a particular type of bullying. The study extended from December 1999 (Time 1) through June 2000 (Time 2). 5 tables and 53 references