ABSTRACT
This chapter will examine some of the theoretical bases of bullying behaviour based around an examination of the psychological literature on aggression. Although it does not intend to look at personality or biological determinants of bullying behaviour (see, for example, Randall, 1997), it attempts to match psychological theories with the patterns found in the behaviour of those who bully and those who are bullied. The chapter will, where possible, draw parallels between the study of bullying and the study of aggression in general by highlighting the areas in which the two can be linked and those in which the two phenomena remain distinct. The chapter will focus on social interactionist theories of aggression (see for example Felson and Tedeschi, 1993; Lawrence and Leather, 1999a) in particular and asks the question: can an understanding of bullying behaviour be gained by using this approach?
