In the Aftermath of School Victimization: Links Between Authoritative School Climate and Adolescents’ Perceptions of the Negative Effects of Bullying Victimization

Although authoritative school climate—strict, yet fair enforcement of rules alongside strong adult support—is associated with lower rates of bullying victimization, less is known about whether it influences how negatively adolescents feel after being victimized at school. Further, it is unclear whether boys and girls respond differently to an authoritative climate. Identifying ways that schools can reduce negative feelings after being bullied is important given the long term psychological ramifications of bullying that, if left unaddressed, can extend into adulthood. To address these gaps, this study examined whether authoritative school climate related to how negatively adolescents felt about their schoolwork, relationships, physical health and self-perception after being bullied. Differences between boys and girls were also investigated. Analyses were conducting using national data from the 2017 School Crime Supplement on a sample of 1,331 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (Mage = 14.3 years; 59% girls). Findings from a set of ordinal regression models with a robust set of student, parent and school controls demonstrated that adolescents in more supportive schools were less likely to report that bullying victimization negatively impacted their schoolwork and feelings about themselves. Similar results were found for girls but not boys. By investing in supportive school climates, schools can be potentially transformative places where adolescents, especially girls, can feel more positively about themselves despite being bullied.

Cyberbullying: Its Social and Psychological Harms Among Schoolers

Criminal justice around the world has prioritized the prevention and protection of bullying and its victims due to the rapid increases in peer violence. Nevertheless, relatively few studies have examined what treatments or assistance are effective for peer victims to reduce and recover from their social and psychological suffering, especially in cyberbullying cases. Using data derived from the National Crime Victimization Survey-School Crime Supplement data in 2011 and 2013 (N=823), the current study examined the impact of two emotional support groups (i.e., adult and peer groups) on cyberbullying victims' social and psychological harm. The findings indicated that both adult and peer support reduced social and psychological harm inflicted by cyberbullying victimization. Based on these findings, the study recommends developing or modifying existing adult and peer support groups to minimize victims' social and psychological distress.

Good Grades and a Bad Reputation

Relational aggression involves excluding peers from social activities and spreading harmful rumors about the victim. Assumptions that only girls are victimized in this way are largely debunked, yet there is little research to explain why boys are victimized in this manner. This study poses the possibility that male adolescent victimization by relational aggression should operate in similar ways that verbal and physical bullying operate among U.S. adolescents. Logistic regression results based on the 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey lend evidence to suggest that relational aggression can be used to sanction academically successful boys. While other studies found that academically successful boys can be bullied through verbal and physical means, these findings show that being excluded and having rumors spread about oneself are additional and previously unstudied ways that boys are punished by their peers for failing to display masculinity.

Social Capital, Opportunity, and School-Based Victimization

This study extends the opportunity theory of victimization to consider the social capital of adolescents at school. We argue that social capital might act as a protective factor potentially encompassing both the concepts of guardianship and target attractiveness. Drawing on a sample of 5,395 adolescents interviewed in the context of the 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey (school crime supplement), we develop school-specific measures of social capital and opportunity indicators in predicting violent and theft victimization on school grounds. The results show that opportunity indicators are strong predictors of both violent and theft victimization and that social capital is especially important as a protective factor from violent victimization. More specifically, the results indicate that students who developed trust relationships with adults at school benefit from these relationships by avoiding violent encounters with potential offenders. Implications for opportunity theories of victimization are discussed.