Bullying in Early Adolescence: The Role of the Peer Group (continued)

These two studies do not examine how the influence of the peer group on bullying behaviors differs across sex, grade, or level of peer group status. A study by Espelage and Holt (2001) of 422 middle school students (grades 6-8), using a survey that included demographic questions, self-report, and peer-report measures of bullying and victimization, and measures of other psychosocial variables, examined the association between popularity and bullying behavior. Despite the finding that bullies as a group enjoyed a strong friendship network, the relationship between bullying and popularity differed for males and females, and also differed across grades. The most striking finding was the strong correlation between bullying and popularity among sixth-grade males, which dropped considerably for seventh-grade males and was not associated for eighth-grade males. Closer examination of peer cliques in this sample found that students not only "hung out" with peers who bully at similar rates but that students also reported an increase in bullying over a school year if their primary peer group bullied others (Espelage, Holt, & Henkel, in press). 

Conclusion

We cannot assume that bullying among young adolescents is a simple interaction between a bully and a victim. Instead, recent studies and media reports suggest that there are groups of students who support their peers and sometimes participate in teasing and harassing other students. It seems important for families, schools, and other community institutions to help children and young adolescents learn how to manage, and potentially change, the pressure to hurt their classmates in order to "fit in." 

For More Information

Corsaro, W. A., & Eder, D. (1990). Children's peer cultures. ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY, 16, 197-220. 

Craig, W. M., & Pepler, D. J. (1997). Observations of bullying and victimization in the school yard. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY, 13, 41-59. 

Crockett, L., Losoff, M., & Petersen, A. C. (1984). Perceptions of the peer group and friendship in early adolescence. JOURNAL OF EARLY ADOLESCENCE, 4(2), 155-181. 

Dodge, K. A. (1991). The structure and function of reactive and proactive aggression. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), THE DEVELOPMENT AND TREATMENT OF CHILDHOOD AGGRESSION (pp. 201-216). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 

Dornbusch, S. M. (1989). The sociology of adolescence. ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY, 15, 233-259. 

Eder, D. (1985). The cycle of popularity: Interpersonal relations among female adolescents. SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 58(3), 154-165. EJ 322 823. 

Eder, D. (1995). SCHOOL TALK: GENDER AND ADOLESCENT CULTURE. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ED 388 393. 

Espelage, D. L., Bosworth, K., & Simon, T. S. (2001). Short-term stability and change of bullying in middle school students: An examination of demographic, psychosocial, and environmental correlates. VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS, 16(4), 411-426. 

Espelage, D. L., & Holt, M. K. (2001). BULLYING AND VICTIMIZATION DURING EARLY ADOLESCENCE: PEER INFLUENCES AND PSYCHOSOCIAL CORRELATES (pp. 123-142). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.