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2 - Research on bullying in North America

from Part I - Social awareness and research on bullying and cyberbullying

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2016

By
Sheri Bauman ,
Julian Mendez ,
Wendy Craig  and
Faye Mishna
Edited by
Peter K. Smith ,
Keumjoo Kwak  and
Yuichi Toda
Peter K. Smith
Affiliation:
Goldsmiths, University of London
Keumjoo Kwak
Affiliation:
Seoul National University
Yuichi Toda
Affiliation:
Osaka Kyoiku University, Japan
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Summary

This chapter discusses the contributions to research on bullying and cyberbullying by North American researchers. It describes several seminal studies that marked the entry of North American researchers into this field of research. It continues by reviewing the contributions of researchers from this continent to the field: several methodological contributions (peer nomination and direct observation) were initiated by US and Canadian scholars. It then discusses contributions to knowledge of specific subgroups, such as students with disabilities, LGBT youth and students of diverse racial and ethnic groups. It notes that the concept of bully/victims was described early on by North American researchers. A topic that has garnered particular attention here is that of teacher responses to bullying, which we review. Next it discusses the theoretical contributions from North America: relational bullying, social cognitive theory and related theories such as social information processing and moral disengagement. This includes a discussion of the social ecological model of Bronfenbrenner, applied to bullying research by Espelage and Swearer (2004). It then outlines the contributions to research on cyberbullying. It concludes with a summary of major work from the US and Canada and some recommendations about future directions for research on this important topic.

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School Bullying in Different Cultures
Eastern and Western Perspectives
 , pp. 30 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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