Research suggests that the relationship between school bullying and its various risk factors should be clearer among girls than boys, and should become stronger with age, as roles within the peer group stabilise. This paper tests this theory by comparing sex, school type, and bully/victim status differences in friendships and playground social interactions, using data from nine surveys in seven countries: China, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, and Spain. A total of approximately 48,000 children completed various translations of the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire. Small but generally consistent main effects were found for sex and school type (boys and primary pupils enjoyed playtimes more and had more friends, but were also more likely to spend playtimes alone). Larger effects were consistently found for bully/victim status (victims were significantly worse off on all the measures in all the samples where a difference was found, while bullies and neutrals did not differ consistently), but the interactions between these factors varied widely between samples and there were few consistent patterns. It is concluded that bullying is a universal phenomenon with many negative correlates for victims and few (if any) for bullies, but that there are cultural variations in the way that bullying is related to sex, age, and social support. Aggr. Behav. 30:71-83, 2004. r
School bullying in England and ijime in Japan have long but separate research traditions. We focus on a cross-national comparison of secondary school pupils' opinions about coping strategies, bystander intervention, and attitudes towards school-based interventions. One-to-one structured interviews were conducted with 61 Japanese and 60 English pupils aged 12-15 years, in six secondary schools. Coping strategy recommended was found to vary by type of bullying. Seeking help was the most recommended, with significant national differences notably for social exclusion. Victims were thought not to seek help for several reasons, again varying by nationality. There was consensus that bystanders should help victims, but more pupils in England had positive views on school-based interventions than pupils in Japan. Gender differences were small. Findings are discussed in the light of differing peer group structures and actions taken against bullying/ijime in the two countries. Aggr. Behav. 32:570-580, 2006.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.