NCJ Number
162575
Journal
Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Problems Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 23-28
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This overview of recent research concerning children who are habitual victims of peer abuse shows that about 10 percent of school children are chronically abused by peers.
Abstract
Victimization is highly stable over the school years and is associated with many negative outcomes for children, including depression, low self-esteem, and school avoidance. Three sets of influences on victimization are reviewed: (1) family factors-- family relations that impede the child's development of autonomous, assertive functioning; (2) behavioral attributes-- emotional disregulation or submissiveness; and (3) social risk factors--absence of supportive friends or rejection of the child by mainstream peers. Implications of research on victimized children for understanding aggressive children and for intervention with bully-victim problems are discussed. Interventions to improve the social behavior of children and to prevent child victimization are examined. 38 references and 1 illustration