Bullying is one of the topics that have attracted a lot of attention from psychologists, educationist, medics and other related disciplines. Bullying can be defined as repeatedly being overbearing and cruel to people perceived to be weaker. Over the years there have been several attempts to understand its effects as well as understand why individuals engage in it. There have been several studies on the topic ranging from understanding the mindset of the victim to attempts at understanding the mindset of the bully. Although bullying is found people of all ages, it is most common among adolescents and older children. Textbooks make it clear that bullying harms the victims as well as the bully; however, the books are not very clear on what the psychosocial characteristics of both are.

Discussion

A study was carried by Stein, Dukes and Warren (2005), which sought to find out and compare psychosocial and behavioral characteristics of bullies, victims and victim-bullies. The objective of the study was to find out among male adolescents whether bully victims would report poorer psychological health, poorer attitude towards education, more problematic behavior and more signs of physical injury compared to bullies, victims and other neutral students. The study hypothesized that victim bullies would report poorer psychological health, worse attitude towards education, more problematic behavior, more problematic behavior and more signs of physical injury as compared to the bullies, victims as well as neutral students.

The participants in the students from four middle schools in Colorado, and two high schools in Colorado springs area. There was a total of 2902 participants of whom 1451 were male and the rest were female.24% of the participants were white, 19% were African American, 25% were Hispanics, 23% were of mixed parentage, 5% were Asians and 3% were native Americans. Of the participants over 33% said their parents had college degrees, 25% had parents who attended a trade school, 27% had parents who had graduated from high school, while 13% of the participants had parents who had less than high school education. Variables measured in the study were psychosocial health, positive attitude towards school, problem behavior and injury. The study found that bully victims reported poorer psychological health than the other categories. The study confirmed the hypothesis save for the idea that bullies had a better attitude towards school than bully victims. From the study the researchers suggest that more awareness should be carried on the problems facing bully-victims.

Another study on bullying was carried out by Due et al. (2005). The study looks at bullying and its symptoms among school going children. The study compares results from across 28 countries. The study examined the relationship between bullying and physical and psychological symptoms among adolescents; a study that was carried out in 28 countries. The hypothesis of the study was that there is a relationship between bullying and various physical and psychological symptoms among adolescents. The study had 123,227 participants aged 11, 13 and 15 years. All the participants came from Europe and North America. The sample size was lowest in Greenland with 1648 and highest in Canada with 6567.

Variables looked at in the study included bullying, health status of the individuals, sensitivity of the individuals and family affluence of the participants. The study found that there was a strong relationship between bullying and psychological symptoms in adolescents, in all the 28 countries sampled. However, there were large variations among students who claimed to have suffered bullying in the 28 countries where school going children participated in the study. The study confirmed the hypothesis. The study concluded that even though there was bullying in school environment, it was decreasing. It also concluded that it was true that there was a positive relationship between psychological symptoms in adolescents and bullying. The researcher suggest that rather than deal with the psychological symptoms among adolescents alone, the school authorities should prioritize dealing with bullying as it was a main contributor to the psychological problems. They also suggest further studies on the topic.

Another study by Rivers et al. (2005) looked at the mental implication of bullying to a witness. This is a slight deviation from the other two studies which focused on the implications of bullying to either victims or the bullies. This one focused on how those who witnessed bullying were affected by what they saw. The study had 2002 participants sourced from 14 schools in the United Kingdom. The students were of various ages ranging from 12 to 16. 55% of the participants were boys while 45% were girls. 91% of the participants were British, 1.8% were of mixed nationality, 1.3% Asian, and 0.4 were black. 0.3% of the participants were Chinese while 5.1 % described themselves as others. The study hypothesized that students who witnessed bullying were mentally affected by it regardless of whether they were victims or the perpetrators of the bullying.

Variables in the study included substance use, student concerns and well as student’s status as either bullies, victims or witnesses. Another variable was mental health risk. The study found that being witness to bullying in school affected the witnesses mentally as much as it did to those who were victims of the bullying or the bullies themselves. Witnesses of bullying were at risk of mental health regardless of whether the witness himself was victim or a bully, or even a bystander. The findings of the study hence confirm the hypothesis of the study. Having noticed that the effect on the witnesses is a result of a number of stressors, the study suggests that all other factors that contribute to bullying should also be addressed among school going children. The study suggests that there ought to be developed better methods of combating bullying that will handle it more comprehensively than are currently available. The study also suggest that witnesses to bullying should be given more attention in addressing bullying just as is done to victims and the bullies themselves. It also suggests that further research be carried out to find more on the effects of bullying on witnesses as its one aspect of bullying that has been ignored by researchers for a long time.

Stein, Dukes and Warren (2005), contributed greatly to widening my understanding of bullying. From their study one gets that bullying not only affects all involved, but it affects them to a different measure. For instance from their conclusion one gathers that bullying affects bully-victims more than it affects either the bullies or the victims. Rivers, et al. (2009) on the other hand bring it to the notice of the readers that it is not just the victim who gets affected by the bullying; even innocent witnesses to the act het affected just as much. Due, et al. (2005), confirms that it is true bullying does have a psychological effect on those who undergo it. This is seen in the various symptoms that they noticed in victims during the study.

The three studies I looked at helped develop my understanding of bullying to a very large extent. From the study, I have a clearer understanding of what bullying is. I understand that it takes various forms, ranging from physical torture to mental harassment. It is clear that bullying is a global phenomenon and not just unique to any one country. From the study, it is clear that bullying does not occur in just one gender but occurs in all genders. The papers provide more accurate definitions of what bullying is and what forms it takes that is available to common people.

The studies give one a broader understanding of how deep seated the problem of bullying among young people is globally. The papers have broadened my thinking in that previously, I always thought of bullying as affecting only the victim but now I understand that it affects all including the perpetrator and the witnesses. Further research should be carried to investigate the effects of bullying on the perpetrator and the witnesses as well as how to stop bullying before it happens.

CLICK BUTTON TO ORDER NOW