Bullies: More Than Sticks, Stones and Name-Calling (continued)

What kind of kid is likely to become a bully?

Research aimed at identifying psychological factors predictive of bullying (Bosworth et al, 1999; Kumpulainen et al, 1998) found that bullies:

• have higher levels of anger
• lack confidence in the use of nonviolent strategies
• accept aggression as justifiable and satisfactory
• are unhappy at school
• are impulsive
• have feelings of depression
• lack a sense of belonging in school
• dislike or are dissatisfied with school
• have problems at home

What kind of kid is likely to become a victim?

Victims have also been found to have certain features in common. They:

• tend to score higher on internalizing and psychosomatic behaviors (Kumpulainen, 1998), meaning that instead of aggressively acting out they are prone to anxious and depressed feelings, perhaps to the point of displaying physical symptoms .
• may contribute to bullying by virtue of their being irritating (e.g. hyperactive, Kumpulainen, 1998), different, or socially awkward or insecure.
• may be "physically weak...quick to submit to their peer's demands...reward their attackers by displaying signs of distress...and by giving up desired resources...be low in social skills...use inappropriate group entry tactics, and they lack humor and pro-social skills" (Hodges & Perry, 1996).
• may have few friends, thus have less peer protection, and more often be rejected.

In light of this, we now realize that bullies should not be the sole focus of interventions intended to reduce the incidence of bullying and victimization.

Do you agree with the idea that bullies and victims have similar psychological profiles?

It's more complicated than that. Bullies and victims are not just two sides of the same coin. It's certainly possible that bullies were victimized at one time and are identifying with the powerful figures in their lives. But as bullies, they are not necessarily acting out feelings of victimization. Research suggests 3 things that motivate bullies (Olweus, 1995).
They may:

• have a need for power and dominance
• be hostile toward the environment and feel satisfied when inflicting injury and suffering
• be compelled to acquire things of value that confer prestige

Are kids likely to pick up bullying behavior at home?

Although we don't know how bullying arises in all cases, some contributing childrearing factors include (Olweus, 1995):

• Authoritarian or punitive parenting. Children brought up in a harsh home environment often become angry and aggressive.
• Coercive parenting. Parents who use power assertive techniques, especially physical punishment, yelling, and name calling, often generate fear about punishment in their children. These children also tend to identify with and model such aggressive authority figures.
• Caretakers' attitudes such as indifference, lack of warmth or involvement
• Permissiveness for aggression seen as inadequate limit setting
• Temperament of the child, e.g. an active or hotheaded child

But keep in mind that just as we do not know the direct cause of bullying, we do not know why some children who grow up in a home that could be expected to foster bullying behavior do not succumb to following this path. It may also be that factors in children's social environment, particularly the classroom, permit bullying to arise and continue.

Are parents doing things to encourage their children to become victims?

Just as particular parenting practices have been associated with the development of bullies, so too certain parenting techniques have been correlated with the development of victim behavior in children. Various researchers have identified such factors as insecure attachment to the primary caregiver as being associated with victimization (Hodges & Perry, 1996). Others have focused on gender differences, looking at how different behaviors by mothers and fathers relate to different victim behavior in girls and boys (Smith & Myron-Wilson, 1998). Victims have also been categorized in various ways depending on their being passive or aggressive/provocative Hodges & Perry, 1996; Kumpulainen et al, 1998), with aggressive or bullying victims having a history of exposure to violence at home (Smith & Myron-Wilson, 1998). But these results are always complicated by the interaction, in specific individual cases, between parental style and child temperament.