Bullying Behaviors
When young people describe either personally experiencing bullying (Hoover et al., 1992) or observing the harassment of others (Hazler, Hoover, & Oliver, 1991), they describe it as largely verbal. Indirect and subtle bullying, such as social ostracism or friendship interference is the second most common form of bullying experienced by females, while mild physical attacks are the second most common form of bullying reported by boys (Hoover & Oliver, 1996).
No statistical relationship is typically observed between the bullying behaviors that students are subjected to and the degree of trauma they experience. In other words, long-term verbal harassment is just as devastating to victims as periodic, mild physical attacks. Some writers have even concluded that dealing with verbal harassment and teasing are central to antibullying campaigns (Hoover & Olsen, 2001). Childhood verbal bullying also appears to be the "testing ground" for later sexual harassment, with the result that school officials not dealing with mild sexualized teasing and verbal gay bashing set themselves up for greater levels of overtly illegal and life-threatening forms of sexual harassment (Stein, 1995). Of course, the verbal climate at school often reflects the linguistic patterns emerging from the home (Duncan, 2004).
Relational Aggression Among Girls
In the past decade a sea change has occurred in the understanding of bullying and other aggressive behaviors among females. The seminal work of Crick and colleagues (e.g., Crick et al., 2001; Cullerton-Sen & Crick, 2005; Ostrov & Crick, 2005) has been picked up by the popular media (e.g., Odd Girl Out; Simmons, 2003). Nearly eight times as many girls as boys participate in what has been termed relational aggression. Relational aggression is defined as manipulating relationships (e.g., friendships, flirting with another's love interest) in a manner purposely designed to hurt others. These behaviors are perceived as very damaging over the short and long haul (Crick, 1996).
If relational and other purely verbal forms of aggression are included in the mix, the long assumed proportional difference between males and females in aggression estimates actually disappears (Crick et al., 2001). Educators have found such behaviors as rumor-mongering and aggressive flirting to be very difficult to manage, perhaps because of the subtlety of these aggressive forms. Indeed, as late as 2004, Crick herself questioned whether effective intervention methods are even on the horizon.
Another type of bullying is cyberbullying. This is a relatively new phenomenon that is occurring with middle school and high school students. This can be very devastating to a child, but intervention can help because there is a trail of messages and written conversations. Cyberbullying, if confronted promptly, can be stopped because the evidence is there.
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