Peer victimization

Peer victimization is the experience among children of being a target of the aggressive behavior of other children, who are not siblings and not necessarily age-mates. Peer victimization is the experience among children of being a target of the aggressive behavior of other children, who are not siblings and not necessarily age-mates. Mass interest in the issue of peer victimization arose during the 1990s due to media coverage of student suicides, peer beatings, and school shootings, notably the tragedy in Columbine, Colorado. This led to an explosion of research attempting to assess bully-victim relationships and related players, what leads victims to experience negative outcomes and how widespread this problem was. Studies of peer victimization have also been conducted in the context of research investigating childhood relationships in general and how they are associated with school adjustment and achievement. Research has proven the problematic nature of peer victimization, identifying many negative outcomes such as low self-esteem, low school engagement, school avoidance, lower school achievement, learned helplessness, and depression. Peer victimization is especially prevalent and damaging in middle school, as during this time children are defining themselves by creating self-schemas and establishing self-esteem, both which will impact their future adult life; for this reason, most of the research on peer victimization focuses on this age group. They are also more vulnerable to peer rejection because needs for belonging and intimacy may be especially strong during early adolescence, when children are working to solidify their peer groups. Much of victimization research adopts a social psychology perspective, investigating how different types of peer victimization affect the individual and the different negative outcomes that occur. Some experimenters are adopting the term social victimization in order to acknowledge that victimization can take both verbal and nonverbal forms or be direct or indirect. They mostly focus on the types of victimization that can occur from multiple sources in a particular environment. Personality psychologists look at individual differences and effects in victims. They may also study individuals in a social context, determining which are more likely to be victimized, such as those who are socially withdrawn. With the development of technology and the widespread access it gives to children and teenagers, peer victimization has become more prevalent through the Internet and cell phones than in years past. This form of victimization called cyberbullying has a potential for a much wider audience than traditional face-to-face victimization. It is also easier to hide from parents and teachers. Studies have found that because this form of victimization is done through the anonymity of the Internet or text messaging, bullies feel more comfortable being crueler to the victim. Without face-to-face communication, social standards become less important and behavior becomes less inhibited. Originally, researchers focused on overt forms of victimization, which were categorized as either physical or verbal. Later, researchers such as Nicki R. Crick argued for the existence of a more covert form of victimization which she observed primarily among females that she called relational victimization, during which a child’s social relationships and social standing are attacked via methods such as peer exclusion. Today, victimization is largely operationally defined as either covert/relational victimization or overt/physical victimization, in which a child is threatened with or dealt corporeal damage. The study of peer victimization draws from two major strands of research as identified by Seely, Tombari, Bennett & Dunkle (2009) called the 'bullying strand' and the 'peer relationship strand.' The victimization aspect of the 'bullying strand' focuses on what leads victims to disengage from school and suffer from damaging negative outcomes while others adjust. The peer relationship strand is more quantitatively oriented, studying fundamental factors related to peer victimization and the negative outcomes, paying special attention to what factors mediate the relationship between them. Interest in peer victimization in psychological research has been fairly recent, and therefore it appears that most researchers have drawn from other areas of study and contemporary applied theories to the context of peer victimization. The areas of the bullying strand that specifically pertain to peer victimization are studies of victimization prevalence, victims’ home environment, and effects of victimization in schools . Researchers started by determining the prevalence of peer victimization believing this would allow for the comparison of the problem over time, populations and after interventions. Prevalence research has been conducted in many different countries, cultures and classroom contexts. Studies utilize a variety of different methods such as self-report questionnaires, peer nominations, and teacher nominations have been used. Unfortunately, results show that in many contexts, the percentage of children that are victimized have fallen in a range between 5-90% Bullying strand research also focuses on the type of families that those who are victimized come from and what types of parenting styles they experienced Finally, a limited number of studies today focus on impacts of being bullied in a school setting and how it relates to achievement, truancy, and drop-out.