No abstract

Retrospective data were collected from adolescent students in order to clarify perceptions of victimization by bullies in small-town midwestern schools. Seventy-two percent of females and 81 percent of male respondents felt that they had experienced bullying at some point in their student careers (76.8 percent overall). Fewer students were considered chronic victims as self-reported severity of bullying increased. Though there are some difficulties in making a direct comparison, preliminary results indicate that victimization by bullies is more prevalent in the USA than in European countries.

Middle and high school students (N=207) in small-

This study reports student observations of victims and bullies in public schools including occurrence rates, seriousness, characteristics, and the adequacy of school responses.

This investigation was designed to replicate recent studies of bullying victims and to extend those findings to younger students. Results tended to replicate earlier studies except that a greater number of young students classified themselves as victims and seemed to experience more trauma.Bullying refers to the physical or psychological abuse of an individual by one or a group of students. Attacks tend to be relatively mild, long-term, and unprovoked Olweus, 1978). Harassment is typically directed toward weaker members of the group rather than toward individuals able to defend themselves (Smith, 1991).Because many behaviors classified as bullying are not illegal, bullying c,m be perceived as a relatively minor irritant in the lives of students. The cumulative effect of peer abuse most likely, however, inhibits self-esteem in young victims leading to adult maladjustment (Gilmartin, 1987;Olweus, 1978;. Bullies also tend to experience adjustment problems as adults, including higher rates of child abuse and other types of criminal behavior (Olweus, 1978). Olweus (1991) reported better adult adjustment among former victims than among bullies.Prior to the 1990s, little was known about bullying in the United States. Opinion pieces and research on more overt forms of aggression were readily available, as were numerous European studies (cf. Olweus, 1978). The basic parameters of bullying in the United States, however, had not been investigated until a series of studies was undertaken designed to assess the extent of bullying, to examine student perceptions about victimization by bullies, and to evaluate attitudes and ideology supportive of such attacks (Hazler, Hoover, & Oliver, 1991;Hoover et al., 1992; Oliver, Hoover, & Hazler, in press).Students looking back on their school careers felt that late elementary and middle John H.