We want to connect you with the latest and most current research on the topic of bullying. Research and education professionals will discover the results of recent bullying-related research studies, news and more. Bullying research helps school counselors, principals, parents, students, and all members of the school community practice and implement proven strategies that help mitigate and prevent bullying.
What Do We Know About Bullying from Bullying Research Papers?
From Dr. Olweus’s 1993 book, Bullying at School: What we know and what we can do, Dr. Olweus explains that bullies usually have the following traits:
- Strong need to dominate other students and to get their own way
- Impulsive and easily angered
- Can be defiant and aggressive toward adults
- Show little empathy toward victims
- For boys that bully, they’re usually physically stronger than boys in general
Victims of bullying often display the opposite characteristics. It’s important to note that these traits may also be caused or amplified by being bullied.
- Cautious, sensitive, quiet, withdrawn and shy
- May be anxious, insecure, unhappy and have low self-esteem
- Are depressed and likely to engage in thoughts of suicide more often than peers.
- Often do not have a single good friend
- For boys, they may be physically weaker than peers
Why Are Bullying Research Papers Important?
Until the Columbine school shootings, many adults and educators thought bullying was something that all children go through and is just children being children. Unfortunately this line of thinking ignores the significant damage that can be done by bullying. Bullying might be a part of everyone’s school experience but that doesn’t mean we should ignore its negative effects.
Research on bullying in schools by the US Department of Education and Secret Service has shown that in 37 cases of school shootings, over 2/3’s of the shooters felt bullied and harassed at school. (View More Bullying Statistics)
While the vast majority of cases of bullying don’t result in school shootings, the number of youth taking their own lives as a result of bullying is on the rise. Even in less tragic cases of bullying, the emotional trauma resulting from years of bullying can last well into adulthood.
It is the goal of bullying research to develop effective bullying prevention programs and also to help those directly affected by bullying.
Prominent Bullying Research Websites
Researchers that study bullying often promote collaboration among their fellow researchers to devise strategies that work for all the many different kinds of school environments. To facilitate collaboration, researchers compile research, news, and resources that are shared online and discussed at conferences. Here are some resources from top organizations that present some of this research:
Bullying Research Network – http://cehs15.unl.edu/cms/index.php?s=2&p=124
American Psychology Association – http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/
What does the research tell us?
The most poignant and actionable bullying research offers practical advice that you can implement at your school or even better, entire school district. Based on various research studies and bullying prevention programs, here are some common and important themes.
- Focus on the whole school culture
- Assess bullying with a bullying survey or interviews from school counselors
- Create bullying prevention groups at your schools
- Train and provide resources to school staff
- Establish anti-bullying policies, which are often required by state law
- Implement a reporting mechanism to report incidents of bullying
- Intervene appropriately in bullying situations
