Perception of internal and external family boundaries by well-adjusted children, bullies and victims

Bullying among children at school is a complex problem. Researchers have studied it from different points of view and tackled it with practical interventions for several years in many countries (Olweus, 1991; Smith, 1991; Rigby and Slee, 1993; Pepler and Craig, 1995; Genta et al., 1996). The first studies of bullying were carried out in Scandinavia (Olweus, 1978) and were then extended to the UK (Smith, 1991); there are now many countries involved in the research (for example Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Australia, Canada).