ABSTRACT
Much of what is known about bullies and bullying behavior comes from Olweus's (1973, 1978, 1993, 1996) large-scale studies of Scandinavian children in which he distinguished bullies from noninvolved students or victims in terms of their positive views of violence and of themselves (high rather than low self-esteem), their impulsivity and physical strength, and their lack of insecurity, anxiety and empathy for victims. More recent studies have focused on the mental health functioning of children identified as bullies. Like victims, bullies are at risk for internalizing difficulties including depression, suicidal ideation (Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpela, Marttunen, Rimpela, & Rantanen, 1999), and loneliness (Forero & McLellan, 1999), and like aggressive children, bullies are at risk for externalizing disorders (Kumpulainen et al., 1998), delinquency and criminality (Olweus, 1993), as well as poor academic achievement, smoking, and substance abuse (Nansel et al., 2001). These findings are consistent with traditional, intuitive notions of bullies as poorly accepted, marginal members of the peer group who are psychologically unfit. We question this stereotypic portrayal of bullies, and suggest that there are distinct subtypes of bullies, differentiated in terms of their social power and status.
