ABSTRACT
The peer ecology is a proximal ecology that the child interacts with directly, what Bronfenbrenner (1979) calls a microsystem, embedded within larger ecological systems (e.g., neighborhood climate, school institutional culture, ethnic/ racial subculture, national culture). Lewin (1943) wrote that the proximal ecology (or immediate situation) was the most important environmental influence on child behavior. As applied to bullies, the peer ecology can take on a variety of forms. Classic research portrays a hostile and rejecting peer ecology for many aggressive children, who reactively lash out as they sense provocation from others (e.g., Asher & Coie, 1990). For bullies who are also victims of harassment (Juvonen & Graham, 2001), this kind of peer ecology comes very close to reality. Some bullies are friendless and lonely; others gain acceptance but only in small, peripheral social networks consisting mainly of unpopular, aggressive children like the bully him-or herself (Coie & Dodge, 1998; McDougall, Hymel, Vaillancourt, & Mercer, 2001; Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998). Whether taking shape as isolation or acceptance by deviant peers, the peer ecology of unpopular bullies is fertile soil for aggressive behaviors to thrive.
