The question at the heart of this book is, ‘How can we best develop theory to support practitioners in their work relating to school bullying?’ The first part of the book (Chapters 2 to 4) charts the development of an integrated model of school bullying that will support practice in schools and also further theory building. The second part (Chapter 5) focuses on the way in which practitioners develop personal theories to support their problem solving in practice. The third part (Chapter 6) explores ways in which theory might be further developed to support the work of practitioners in schools. The aim throughout is to provide ideas for consideration rather than prescriptions, and to suggest a number of possible starting points and frameworks for the further development of theory.

At present there may be an increasing trend towards employing a looser, more inclusive definition of bullying than was previously the case. The danger, however, is that too many children will be labelled as ‘victims’ or ‘bullies’ and that this in itself may begin to generate problems. For example, children with particularly serious problems may be overlooked while other children may be pathologised by inappropriate labelling. A common definition of bullying is one in which negative actions are targeted – repeatedly and over time – by one or more people towards someone who has difficulty defending themselves (Olweus, 1993). It is often assumed that there is an imbalance of power and also a conscious intention to cause harm or upset.