A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated the seriousness of bullying in American schools. In a nationally representative sample of over 15,686 students in the United States (grades 6 through 10), 29.9% self-reported frequent involvement in bullying at school, with 13% participating as a bully, 10.9% as a victim, and 6% as both (Nansel et al., 2001). Aggression and violence during childhood and adolescence have been the focus of much research over the past several decades (e.g., Loeber & Hay, 1997; Olweus, 1979). These researchers have found that serious forms of aggression remain relatively stable from childhood through adulthood; however, Loeber and Hay (1997) argue that mild forms of aggression may not begin for some children until early or late adolescence. Despite Loeber and Hay's findings, very little research has been conducted on mild forms of aggression, such as bullying, during the middle years. One notable gap in the evolving literature on bullying and victimization during early adolescence is the role that peers play in promoting bullying and victimization by either reinforcing the aggressor, failing to intervene to stop the victimization, or affiliating with students who bully. This Digest looks at the limited research available on the role of the peer group in bullying to learn more about how bullying and victimization might emerge or continue during early adolescence.
A short-term investigation of over 500 middle school students (grades 6-8) found an increase in bullying behavior among sixth-graders over a 4-month period (Espelage, Bosworth, & Simon, 2001). The authors speculated that the sixth-graders were assimilating into the middle school, where bullying behavior was part of the school culture. This speculation is supported by the theory that bullying is a learned behavior, and that as they enter middle school, sixth-graders have not yet learned how to interact positively in the social milieu of the school. Many sixth-graders who wish to "fit in" may adopt the behaviors--including teasing--of those students who have been in the school longer and who have more power to dictate the social norm.
Two recent studies further examined the hypothesis that middle school students opt to bully their peers to "fit in" (Pellegrini, Bartini, & Brooks, 1999; Rodkin et al., 2000). Pellegrini and colleagues found that bullying enhanced within-group status and popularity among 138 fifth-graders making the transition through the first year of middle school. Similarly, Rodkin and colleagues, in a study of 452 fourth- through sixth-grade boys, found 13.1% were rated as both aggressive and popular by their teachers. Furthermore, these aggressive popular boys and popular prosocial boys received an equivalent number of "cool" ratings from peers.
These two studies do not examine how the influence of the peer group on bullying behaviors differs across sex, grade, or level of peer group status. A study by Espelage and Holt (2001) of 422 middle school students (grades 6-8), using a survey that included demographic questions, self-report, and peer-report measures of bullying and victimization, and measures of other psychosocial variables, examined the association between popularity and bullying behavior. Despite the finding that bullies as a group enjoyed a strong friendship network, the relationship between bullying and popularity differed for males and females, and also differed across grades. The most striking finding was the strong correlation between bullying and popularity among sixth-grade males, which dropped considerably for seventh-grade males and was not associated for eighth-grade males. Closer examination of peer cliques in this sample found that students not only "hung out" with peers who bully at similar rates but that students also reported an increase in bullying over a school year if their primary peer group bullied others (Espelage, Holt, & Henkel, in press).
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Espelage, D. L., Bosworth, K., & Simon, T. S. (2001). Short-term stability and change of bullying in middle school students: An examination of demographic, psychosocial, and environmental correlates. VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS, 16(4), 411-426.
Espelage, D. L., & Holt, M. K. (2001). BULLYING AND VICTIMIZATION DURING EARLY ADOLESCENCE: PEER INFLUENCES AND PSYCHOSOCIAL CORRELATES (pp. 123-142). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.
Espelage, D. L., Holt, M. K., & Henkel, R. R. (in press). Examination of peer group contextual effects on aggression during early adolescence. CHILD DEVELOPMENT.
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Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R. S., Ruan, W. J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviors among U.S. youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 285(16), 2094-2100.
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Pellegrini, A. D. (2002). Bullying, victimization, and sexual harassment during the transition to middle school. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST, 37(3), 151-164.
Pellegrini, A. D., Bartini, M., & Brooks, F. (1999). School bullies, victims, and aggressive victims. Factors relating to group affiliation and victimization in early adolescence. JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 91(2), 216-224.
Rodkin, P. C., Farmer, T. W., Pearl, R., & Van Acker, R. (2000). Heterogeneity of popular boys: Antisocial and prosocial configurations. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, 36(1), 14-24. EJ 602 204.
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