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ABSTRACT
The prevalence of bullying and victimization by gender, grade level, and race/ ethnicity was examined among a sample of low socioeconomic, Black and Hispanic 6th- to 12th-graders in a large urban school district in Texas. Bullying and victimization were measured using specific behaviors. Students were classified as bullies (7%), victims (12%), bully-victims (5%), or neither (76%), depending on the number and frequency of reported experiences. For specific types of bullying (e.g., spreading rumors, excluding others), 4.5%-9.4% of students reported participation. Specific types of victimization (e.g., being hit or pushed, picked on) ranged from 6%-12%. Gender differences were not observed for general bullying and victimization, but physical and some verbal types were more prevalent among males. Blacks were more likely to participate in bullying and victimization, and these experiences seemed to peak in the 9th grade. This study adds to the literature as few U.S. studies on both general and specific types of bullying have been conducted among low socioeconomic, racial/ethnic minority students in middle and high school.
Researchers began to study bullying and victimization just over 30 years ago (Roland, 2000). Recent studies have linked victimization to school-related homicidal acts by students (Anderson et al., 2001; Vossekuil, Fein, Reddy, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2002). In a case study of school violence incidents conducted by the United States Secret Service, the majority of school assailants reported being bullied (Vossekuil et al., 2002). In addition, both mental (depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety) (Juvonen, Graham, & Schuster, 2003; Bosworth, Espelage, & Simon, 1999; Espelage, Bosworth, & Simon, 2001; Prinstein, Boergers, & Vernberg, 2001; van der Waal, de Wit, & Hirasing, 2003; Bond, Carlin, Thomas, Rubin, & Patton, 2001; Haynie et al., 2001; Salmon, James, & Smith, 1998; Hodges & Perry, 1999; Olweus, 1993b) and physical (e.g., headaches, sleeping problems) (Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpela, Rantanen, & Rimpela, 2000; Rigby, 1998; Forero, McLellan, Rissel, & Bauman, 1999; Wolke, Woods, Stanford, & Schultz, 2001; Williams, Chambers, Logon, & Robinson, 1996; Rigby, 1999) health problems are associated with both bullying and victimization.
Bullying represents a form of aggression (Olweus, 1993a; Arora, 1996; Wolke, Woods, Bloomfield, & Karstadt, 2000; Kalliotis, 2000) and can be classified as either direct or indirect (Olweus, 1991; Olweus, 1993a; Baldry & Farrington, 1999). Direct or overt bullying is defined as...