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Dan Olweus defined bullying as “unwanted aggressive behavior that is repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power.” However, there has been a growing recognition of the role played by social contexts. This shift reflects Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological perspective on bullying and the social-ecological diathesis-stress model, which incorporate not only micro levels of analysis, but also meso and macro levels that include broader social factors. Other theories, such as the Migliaccio and Raskauskas’ modified social-ecological perspective and Shepherd’s Interactionist Norm Account of Culture envision bullying as a social process in which aggressive acts are repeated because they are endorsed by peers and groups. Structural ecologies, social norms, and societal expectations are also at play in bullying behaviours, as young people are often imitating the behaviours they see among their peers, in the adults in their lives, in the media, and in politics. It is against this background that we are now reflecting on the best way to continue the legacy of Olweus and others into the future, while at the same time making sure that our definitions, research instruments, and related interventions are fit for purpose in an increasingly complex world. In this chapter we will review the basis of conventional definitions of bullying, consider how a future definitions of school bullying add inclusivity, and offer recommendations on how to engage in an inclusivity-minded whole-education approach to bullying.

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Sense of belonging is a fundamental human need that can raise the chances of self-actualization and academic success in college. Latine and other historically underrepresented student groups may experience greater challenges in this area than White students due to a greater propensity for feelings of belonging uncertainty, perceptions of inequality or experiences with microaggressions, or greater struggles with food and housing insecurities, even when they outnumber White students on campus. In this study, we utilized a person-centered approach to explore the heterogeneity in belonging in a large sample of undergraduate students (N=2,003) between the ages of 18 and 25 at a majority-minority Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). We also used multinomial analysis to determine whether Latine and other non-White students, as well as those experiencing greater food and housing insecurities, were more likely to experience lower levels of belonging than their peers. The data pointed to three profiles of belonging, the lowest of which was characterized by low peer support and high isolation. Latine and Black students, and those experiencing more food and housing insecurities, were all more likely to identify with the Low Peer Support/High Isolation Profile.

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Most anti-bullying curricula in schools are based on the social ecological perspective on bullying. The resulting whole school approaches to anti-bullying policy hold potential to empower school communities to deal with aggression by including parents, teachers, administrators, and community members in their efforts. In this paper, we consider ways in which sociological theories of interaction, power imbalances, structural inequalities, and social networks can improve upon the social ecological approach to anti-bullying programs. In doing so, we argue for the creation of a school sociologist position to facilitate a multi-tiered approach to improving overall school climate and culture while reducing bullying. We also discuss the feasibility and purpose of this new position in the United States and offer guidance for other countries to explore implementation in other contexts. By drawing upon the theoretical perspectives and methodologies that are integral to their own discipline, sociologists are well positioned to incorporate theoretically grounded and data-driven decisions into the design and delivery of school programs to reduce bullying.

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In this paper we review the sociological literature on peer aggression among adolescents and demonstrate how it can form the basis of a new subfield in sociology on the subject of bullying. Although sociologists have mostly avoided the term bullying in classic works on adolescent aggression, these studies suggest that institutional social control, status hierarchies and social inequalities provide important social context for youth aggression. While historically they have not been in dialogue with each other, when taken together sociological research on youth status relations and social networks, systemic bias, school culture and social ecology can lay the foundation of a sociology of bullying. We suggest that if sociologists see this work as shedding light on issues of bullying, they can begin to play a larger role in the shaping of the national conversation on bullying and influence anti-bullying programs in schools to take better account of the social dimensions of bullying.

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School shootings and suicides by young victims of bullying have spurred a proliferation of anti-bullying programs, yet most of the research done on school bullying has been from psychologists. The Sociology of Bullying will be the first volume to present the leading ideas in sociology about bullying among adolescents that moves beyond an individualistic approach and instead offers ideas about how to address bullying as a byproduct of social systems, biases, and status hierarchies. Sociologists investigate the impact of social forces on bullying among adolescents, such as inequality, heteronormativity, militarized capitalism, racism, cancel culture, power, and competition. Contributors explore a wide range of key topics, such as how homophobia and gender normativity encourage bullying; how anti-bullying curricula can ultimately lead to more bullying; and how adolescents use bullying against their friends to improve their own social standing. By advancing sociological perspectives on bullying, this important volume aims to shift the national conversation from one that focuses on villainizing bullies to one that encourages an inward look at the aspects of our culture that foster bullying behavior among children.

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Extremely student friendly, Statistics: A Tool for Social Research & Data Analysis equips you with a solid understanding of statistical fundamentals and their practical application to current social issues — no advanced math knowledge required. The text breaks down even the most complex material to help you master key concepts and develop the skills you need as a professional in a social science field — or simply to become a “statistically literate” consumer of social research. Everyday examples illustrate that statistics are not just abstract mathematical constructs, but they have practical value in government, education, business, media, politics, sports and more. Research examples in every chapter include the same “real data” used by professionals across various fields to make evidence-based decisions.

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Involvement in bullying is associated with negative health outcomes for adolescents. Recent studies suggest that bullying is related to sleep disturbances. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in sleep disturbances (bedtime fears, insomnia, parasomnias) between victims, bullies, and youth not involved in bullying, as well as to explore differences across various types of bullying behavior (verbal, physical, social, cyber). High school students ages 14–17 years (mean = 16.0) in the United States (n = 885; 57.3% female; 87.5% White) completed The Children’s Report of Sleep Patterns and questions about involvement in verbal, physical, social and cyberbullying. Differences in all three sleep disturbances were found across groups, with victims and bully-victims reporting more sleep disturbances than bullies and youth not involved. A similar pattern was found across all bullying types, with more sleep disturbances for victims and bully-victims. The results of this cross-sectional study highlight the importance of screening youth for sleep disturbances that may indicate daytime issues with bullying or victimization, as well as the need for longitudinal studies to elucidate potential pathways between sleep and bullying/victimization.

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Sexual and reproductive health indicators for young people in the USA have improved in recent decades, but teenage pregnancies remain high, and large differences between Whites and non-Whites persist in teenage births, abortions, and the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections. Prior research shows that young people are receptive to communication about sex from parents and friends, but peers have been found to be more influential on sexual risk taking. In this study of 617 young people aged 13–20 years in high-risk neighbourhoods for teenage pregnancy in New Jersey, we asked whether sexually inexperienced young people differed from sexually experienced young people in their level of receptivity to the recommendations from their parents, friends, and others about whether to have sex before marriage and whether to use a condom if sexually active. The results showed that the sexually inexperienced were more receptive to messages from figures of authority in their life than those sexually experienced. We also found that stronger message intensity from parents, friends, and others to delay sex until marriage and to use a condom if sexually active was associated with lower sexual intentions in the next six months and the use of a condom if sexually active in the last three months.

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Anti-bullying legislation has been adopted in every state to prevent the victimization of youth, but the focus on deterring and criminalizing individual behavior can obscure the contextual factors that contribute to aggression. This theoretical paper engages sociological literature to understand the impact of recent anti-bullying legislation on students’ experiences. We discuss stigma and account-making theory to theorize the ways students become particularly vulnerable to victimization and may or may not be sufficiently protected under the law. We also engage criminological theories to understand how punishment may not be sufficient for preventing aggressive behavior but may instead lead students to employ strategies to avoid being caught or punished for their behaviors. We argue that the majority of current anti-bullying definitions and protocols in use are ambiguous and insufficient in protecting vulnerable groups of students, particularly students with disabilities, overweight students, and LGBT +  students. Our findings suggest that schools should seek to understand and alter the school-wide cultures and norms that permit aggressive behavior in the first place, in turn creating more inclusive school environments.

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Heightened attention to bullying in research and in the media has led to a proliferation of school climate surveys that ask students to report their level of involvement in bullying. In this study, the authors reviewed the challenges associated with measuring bullying and the implications they have on the reliability of school climate surveys. Then they used data from a sample of 810 students in a large public high school in New Jersey to evaluate the merits of using a more generalized definition of aggression in school climate research. Similar to national surveys of bullying, the authors found that boys were more likely than girls to be involved as aggressors, victims, and victim-aggressors for verbal aggression, physical aggression, threats, and damage to property. Girls were more likely to be involved in social aggression. Few differences were observed in aggressive behaviors by grade, but grade level moderated the differences by gender for all types of aggression. The findings demonstrate what school social workers can expect to learn about school climate by using a survey instrument to measure the prevalence of specific categories of aggression that do not include the requisite power differential, a minimum duration of victimization, or an intentionality test.

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Many forms of peer aggression are referred to as” bullying” by students, parents and adults, and this can be a source of confusion in schools. The main purpose of this study is to explore the circumstances under which students characterize peer aggression as “bullying” incidents. A secondary goal is to examine the feelings students have about the effectiveness of reporting peer aggression to adults. Both objectives are intended to reveal information that will enhance communication about peer aggression and bullying between students and adults. Six focus groups with 54 students in grades three through eight were conducted. The groups were organized in patterns based on grade level and gender, and qualitative methods were used to analyze the results. The findings showed that although the students defined bullying in ways that are similar to the criteria in the literature, they chose different words to describe them. Younger students also expressed greater faith in the ability of adults to respond effectively to bullying situations. Older students preferred to confront a bully with equal force or to reason with a bully to stop the aggression.

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The goal of this paper is to describe a new virtual form of instructor-student interaction that can enable students to interact with their instructors without the pressures inherent in a traditional setting where they must face other students. Virtual instructor-student interaction (VISI) is a new pedagogical technique, developed by the author, which involves the transformation of an online survey into a medium that can simultaneously present course material, ask questions, obtain feedback and deliver responses. The interaction takes place asynchronously in a private space between the student and the instructor. By using this method instructors can enable students to grow their knowledge of subject material through brainstorming and direct communication with the instructor, in an intellectual space that is devoid of the peer pressure that pervades both traditional face-to-face interactions as well as the public interaction that takes place in online courses on open access websites.

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Becoming a victim of verbal and social bullying in middle school can lead to illness, psychological stress, and maladjustment. The coping strategies that students utilize when they are bullied may influence the likelihood and severity of these negative effects. In this study, we examined the predictions made by students in two middle schools about the ways that they would cope with becoming a victim of verbal and social bullying. We also analyzed influences for coping strategies and student willingness to seek help with bullying at school. The results show that middle school students generally expect that they will utilize adaptive approach strategies in trying to solve the problem or obtain support from others, but those who had been victimized in the last month were more likely than those not involved in bullying, to predict that they would engage in maladaptive avoidance coping strategies if victimized in the future. Willingness to seek help was found to be enhanced by approach coping strategies, less aggressive attitudes, and lower perceptions of school bullying. Policy implications for efforts to encourage approach coping strategies in middle school students through educational interventions and school counseling are discussed.

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The Bogardus social distance scale, which measures the level of acceptance that Americans feel toward members of the most common ethnic and racial groups in the United States, was administered six times nationally between 1920 and 2001. Replicating the most recent study with its revised list of ethnic and racial groups, the authors of this study analyzed a stratified random sample of 3,166 college students, making it the largest national social distance study ever conducted. The findings indicate an increase since 2001 in the mean level of social distance toward all ethnic groups, as well as in the spread between the groups with the highest and lowest levels of social distance. Further, a consistency between studies in group preferences reaffirms the relevance of the similarity-attraction bond in accepting those who are racially and culturally different. Mean comparisons and analysis of variance tests also showed that gender, birthplace of respondents and/or their parents, race, and year in college are all significant indicators of the level of social distance toward groups.

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Rising ethnic and racial diversity in schools has continually led to calls for multicultural education and higher levels of cultural competence among teachers. In this study, a multicultural education program is tested for its effects on the self-perceived cultural intelligence of the teachers delivering it in the classrooms. The cultural intelligence scale (CQ) was used to measure the cultural competence of 32 teachers at three points in time over a twelve month period, during which they carried out a multicultural education program. The results indicate that cognitive, motivational and behavioral cultural intelligence was enhanced during the study period. Broader applications are needed to determine the likelihood of success in other settings.

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Rising ethnic and racial diversity in schools has continually led to calls for multicultural education and higher levels of cultural competence among teachers. In this study, a multicultural education program is tested for its effects on the self-perceived cultural intelligence of the teachers delivering it in the classrooms. The cultural intelligence scale (CQ) was used to measure the cultural competence of 32 teachers at three points in time over a twelve month period, during which they carried out a multicultural education program. The results indicate that cognitive, motivational and behavioral cultural intelligence was enhanced during the study period. Broader applications are needed to determine the likelihood of success in other settings.

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The goals of this study are to provide national estimates of turnover and retention for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants in nursing homes, and to examine the associations between management tenure, organizational characteristics, local economic conditions, turnover, and retention. The 2004 National Nursing Home Survey is used as the primary source of data. The annualized turnover rate is found to be the highest among certified nursing assistants at 74.5%, followed by registered nurses at 56.1%, and licensed practical nurses at 51.0%. National retention rates reveal that between 62.5% and 67.3% of nurses have been employed at the same organization for more than one year. Director of nursing tenure, registered nurse hours per patient day, and certified nursing assistant hours per patient day show the most consistent associations to lower turnover and higher retention.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between nursing home administrator (NHA) leadership style and staff turnover. We analyzed primary data from a survey of 2,900 NHAs conducted in 2005. The Online Survey Certification and Reporting database and the Area Resource File were utilized to extract organizational and local economic characteristics of the facilities. A general linear model (GLM) was used to estimate the effects of NHA leadership style, organizational characteristics, and local economic characteristics on nursing home staff turnover for registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and nurse’s aides (NAs). The complete model estimates indicate that NHAs who are consensus managers (leaders who solicit, and act upon, the most input from their staff) are associated with the lowest turnover levels, 7% for RNs, 3% for LPNs, and 44% for NAs. Shareholder managers (leaders who neither solicit input when making a decision nor provide their staffs with relevant information for making decisions on their own) are associated with the highest turnover levels, 32% for RNs, 56% for LPNs, and 168% for NAs. The findings indicate that NHA leadership style is associated with staff turnover, even when the effects of organizational and local economic conditions are held constant. Because leadership strategies are amenable to change, the findings of this study may be used to develop policies for lowering staff turnover.

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There are few studies of voluntary and involuntary turnover in the nursing home literature. Previous research in this area has focused mainly on the linear effects of individual and organizational characteristics on total turnover. The purpose of this study was to examine both linear and nonlinear effects of organizational and environmental conditions on voluntary and involuntary nursing home staff turnover. We analyzed both primary and secondary data on 854 nursing homes in six states. A negative binomial regression model was used to study both linear and curvilinear effects of organizational and environmental factors on voluntary and involuntary turnover among registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nurse aides. Staffing levels and deficiency citations were the organizational characteristics most consistently linked with turnover among all nurse types. Links were also found between unemployment and type of location (urban or rural) and turnover, indicating that the economic environment is influential for retention. The results of this study support the notion that policy makers need to consider both the organization and the environment when evaluating the nature of nursing home staff turnover. The findings also offer further evidence that the antecedents of voluntary and involuntary turnover are not necessarily the same.

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The authors examined the leadership styles of nursing home administrators (NHA) and the association between their leadership styles and staff turnover. Data came from a nationally representative sample of nursing homes (N = 2,840 completed surveys with a response rate of 71%). The NHAs completed the Jerrell-Slevin Management Instrument—a validated survey categorizing participants into four leadership styles—revealing 31% have a consensus manager style, 28% an autocrat style, 27% a consultative autocrat style, and 14% a shareholder manager leadership style. Although some leadership types may be more effective than others based on the match between the environment and the NHA, some generalizations may be made from the analyses. Most significantly, registered nurse and nurse aide turnover rates were found to be lower in facilities administered by nursing home administrators who are consensus managers. These findings indicate that NHA leadership style may ultimately influence resident care.

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Recent literature suggests that emerging adults are more likely to use individualistic criteria to define adulthood, rather than traditional criteria such as role transitions and family capacities. In this study of 425 college students from a northeastern university, we identified several sources of variation in both the ways in which young people define adulthood and the nature of their adult experiences. The study’s key findings are that females are more likely than males to emphasize individualism and norm compliance as necessary criteria for adulthood; non-whites are more likely than whites to value role transitions; and females are more likely than males to comply with social norms in their lives. The results indicate that the emphasis on modal perceptions of adulthood and adult experiences in adulthood transition research may be obscuring important demographic variation.

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The goal of this study was to identify nursing home characteristics that have differential associations to voluntary and involuntary turnover among formal caregivers (i.e., registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nurse aides). Primary data from 354 facilities from four states were merged with data from the 2004 Online Survey, Certification and Recording system. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether organizational characteristics were related to a greater probability of high or low levels of voluntary and involuntary turnover among formal caregivers. The analysis revealed that a higher ratio of nurses to beds, a smaller number of quality-of-care deficiencies, and a smaller proportion of residents using Medicaid were all associated with lower voluntary turnover but higher involuntary turnover. The findings indicate that controlling turnover is a complex process that may involve monitoring the organizational levels not only of voluntary separations but also of involuntary terminations.

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Previous analyses of the inverse relationship between a nursing home’s Medicaid census and its quality of care have been based on samples limited to specific geographic regions, for-profit entities, or only skilled care facilities. The present study uses national-level data from the 1999 National Nursing Home Survey to examine the association between the proportion of beds designated for Medicaid residents and nurse staffing ratios. The results indicate that homes which designate a higher proportion of their beds for Medicaid recipients maintain lower ratios of registered nurses and nurse’s aides to residents, even when key facility characteristics are controlled. It was also found that nursing homes with a higher proportion of Medicaid beds offer lower nursing ratios regardless of their profit status or the difference between private pay rates and Medicaid reimbursement rates. Since lower nursing ratios have been previously linked to negative outcomes, these findings suggest that homes which rely more heavily upon Medicaid recipients may be using cost-cutting strategies which have negative implications for quality.

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The last quarter of the 20th century witnessed a number of events and social transformations that have had great implications for religious and ethnic relations around the world. This study seeks to gauge the changes in sentiment towards various U.S. ethnic and religious groups by updating and replicating the Bogardus social distance scale. The Bogardus study, which was designed to measure the level of acceptance that Americans feel towards members of the most common ethnic groups in the United States, was conducted five times between 1920 and 1977 with very few changes in research design. Consistent with prior replications, the authors of this study collected a random sample of 2,916 college students and administered the social distance scale in the form of a questionnaire. The findings indicate that the mean level of social distance towards all ethnic groups, as well as the spread between the groups with the highest and lowest levels of social distance, decreased since 1977. Mean comparisons and ANOVA test also showed that gender, nation of origin, and race are all significant indicators of the level of social distance towards all groups.

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This article attempts to explain why the social constructionist paradigm has failed to replace the medical model in American disability theory. The social movement led by American disability activists attempted to reframe the definition of disability using a minority group model based on the social constructionist paradigm. This paper argues that the disability movement was unable to successfully advance the social constructionist paradigm because the activists accepted the Americans With Disabilities Act (1990) despite its ideological basis in the medical model of disability, and the social constructionist theory does not adequately account for the importance of structural constraints to redefinition.