Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Bullying has been one of the top social and health issues for children and adolescents worldwide (see Zych, Ortega-Ruiz, & Del Rey, 2015; also see stopbullying.org). The term, bullying, was initially interpreted as school violence, which is intentional and repetitive aggression against a student by his/her peer(s) at school environments. Since the term has been more broadly used, bullying has been referred to as not only school violence among peer groups but also some workplace violence among employees. Also, living in the current internet and high-tech era, the place of bullying moves from a physical place to cyberspace. Due to the complications in defining the term, it was not until the early 2010s to have a consensus and commonly adopted bullying definition. Although the target subject has been expanded from schoolers to adults, the current study focuses on school bullying, especially cyberbullying and its social and psychological harms.

The initial school bullying was studied in Scandinavia in the 1970s (Heinemann, 1972; Olweus, 1973; cited in Zych et al., 2015). Since then, studies have been conducted on the bully (Li, 2006, 2007; Mishna, Cook, Gadalla, Daciuk, & Solomon, 2010; Slonje & Smith, 2008), bully-bullied (Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla, & Daciuk, 2012; Mishna et al., 2020; Vieno, Gini, & Santinello, 2011), the bullied (victims) (Chen et al., 2018; Fredrick & Demaray, 2018; Mishna, Cook, Gadalla, Daciuk, & Solomon, 2010), and bystanders such as teachers, parents, caregivers, and/or social support groups who might control, prevent, and assist the bully and the bullied (Bastiaensens et al., 2014; Pozzoli & Gini, 2019).

Those studies also have examined the effect of school and social systems on school bullying, including physical security and safety systems, crime reporting systems, and school justice systems as well as social justice systems. In particular, the studies examined the bullied and their physical, social, and psychological damage and distress reveal that many peer victims internalize and/or externalize problems such as suicidal ideation and behavior, depression, drug and/or alcohol use, emotional and sleeping problem, and more. These symptoms were identified among the victims of both traditional and cyberbullying. Relatively few studies, however, have examined what treatments or assistance are effective for peer victims reducing and recovering from their suffering.

To bridge the research gap, the current study reviews the definitions of the term, cyberbullying, and operationalize it for this study purposes. And then, using the datasets of the National Crime Victim Survey - School Crime Supplement in 2011 and 2013, the present study examines the effects of adult and peer support for adolescent cyberbullying victims on social harm and psychological harm, where other variables are controlled. Discussions and policy implications are made based on the study findings.

Introduction

Table of Contents