Page 113 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 113
venting bullying: peer culture as the crucial developmental context in adolescence
maintain bullying are decisive in the transition to adolescence. The reasons
for bullying behaviour and for bystanders’ responses that maintain and en-
hance the bullying dynamics can usually be explained by changes in stu-
dents’ social motivation (high aspirations for popularity, power, and social
status; see, e.g., van den Broek et al., 2016). Students who do not conform to
the classroom norms can thus become victims of chronic bullying. Due to
the growing influence that bullies have on bystanders, students who expe-
rience bullying become ever more socially isolated. Therefore, they suffer
not only from bullying but also from social isolation and a lack of support
within the classroom. This frequently leads to endorsing characterological
self-blaming attributions – attributing victimisation to internal, uncontrol-
lable and stable causes (i.e. self-blaming, attributing bullying experiences
to the type of persons they are). Such attributions further add to the dis-
tress of the victimised and contribute to the continuation of victimisation
(Juvonen & Schacter, 2017). Such self-blaming attributions are more likely
at schools with a lower level of overall victimisation; at schools with high-
er levels of victimisation, victims more likely attribute their bullying expe-
riences to more controllable and less stable factors (e.g. ‘being in the wrong
place at the wrong time’; Schachter & Juvonen, 2015). This finding again il-
lustrates how bullying experiences (in this case, the social cognitions of vic-
tims) are embedded in the social context since they depend on the normativ-
ity of the experience in a certain environment (Juvonen & Schacter, 2017). It
is also consistent with the findings that classroom reductions in the share of
victims who followed effective interventions can be harmful to students who
remain victimised, as indicated by the increased depression and social anx-
iety among these stable victims (Garandeau et al., 2018).
In adolescents, the proportion of students who bully others and their
reinforcers and assistants is higher than in childhood, while the share of
those who defend victims drops (Pouwels et al., 2018). These findings are
consistent with the predominant conceptualisation of bullying as goal-di-
rected behaviour. In adolescence, social goals like peer status and popular-
ity become increasingly important (e.g. LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010). The
more important these goals are for students, the more likely they use bully-
ing behaviour or support such behaviour in popular bullies (e.g. Caravita &
Cillessen, 2012; van den Broek et al., 2016). This means the main reason that
bystanders are more tolerant of bullying during adolescence is the impor-
tance of being acknowledged by one’s peers in this period. To fully under-
stand bullying during adolescence, it is hence vital to understand the per-
spective held by bullying bystanders.
113
maintain bullying are decisive in the transition to adolescence. The reasons
for bullying behaviour and for bystanders’ responses that maintain and en-
hance the bullying dynamics can usually be explained by changes in stu-
dents’ social motivation (high aspirations for popularity, power, and social
status; see, e.g., van den Broek et al., 2016). Students who do not conform to
the classroom norms can thus become victims of chronic bullying. Due to
the growing influence that bullies have on bystanders, students who expe-
rience bullying become ever more socially isolated. Therefore, they suffer
not only from bullying but also from social isolation and a lack of support
within the classroom. This frequently leads to endorsing characterological
self-blaming attributions – attributing victimisation to internal, uncontrol-
lable and stable causes (i.e. self-blaming, attributing bullying experiences
to the type of persons they are). Such attributions further add to the dis-
tress of the victimised and contribute to the continuation of victimisation
(Juvonen & Schacter, 2017). Such self-blaming attributions are more likely
at schools with a lower level of overall victimisation; at schools with high-
er levels of victimisation, victims more likely attribute their bullying expe-
riences to more controllable and less stable factors (e.g. ‘being in the wrong
place at the wrong time’; Schachter & Juvonen, 2015). This finding again il-
lustrates how bullying experiences (in this case, the social cognitions of vic-
tims) are embedded in the social context since they depend on the normativ-
ity of the experience in a certain environment (Juvonen & Schacter, 2017). It
is also consistent with the findings that classroom reductions in the share of
victims who followed effective interventions can be harmful to students who
remain victimised, as indicated by the increased depression and social anx-
iety among these stable victims (Garandeau et al., 2018).
In adolescents, the proportion of students who bully others and their
reinforcers and assistants is higher than in childhood, while the share of
those who defend victims drops (Pouwels et al., 2018). These findings are
consistent with the predominant conceptualisation of bullying as goal-di-
rected behaviour. In adolescence, social goals like peer status and popular-
ity become increasingly important (e.g. LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010). The
more important these goals are for students, the more likely they use bully-
ing behaviour or support such behaviour in popular bullies (e.g. Caravita &
Cillessen, 2012; van den Broek et al., 2016). This means the main reason that
bystanders are more tolerant of bullying during adolescence is the impor-
tance of being acknowledged by one’s peers in this period. To fully under-
stand bullying during adolescence, it is hence vital to understand the per-
spective held by bullying bystanders.
113
