Introduction

This introductory chapter summarizes basic knowledge about school bullying, gathered over the last three decades. It starts by considering the definition of bullying, and the extension of this to cyberbullying. It then summarizes the history of research over this period, which has seen a massive increase in publications. Methods of measurement, and findings about prevalence of bully and victim rates, are discussed. Recent research has thrown light on the reasons why some pupils bully others, and on attitudes to bullying. Knowledge about predictors of involvement is summarized, including age, gender, disability, minority status, and individual, and family factors. Class, school, and neighbourhood influences are summarized. Bullying has severe consequences, and the evidence concerning this is presented, as are individual’s ways of coping. In the final section the topic of school-based intervention programmes is introduced. The findings of recent meta-analyses show that these hold promise but that much more remains to be done to increase effectiveness and impact. The various chapters of this book describe well-known and successful interventions, and illustrate what can be achieved, what challenges are faced, and what can be learned for the future.