ABSTRACT
BEYOND BULLIES AND VICTIMS Bullying is generally defined as aggression by a person of greater power towards a person with less power, and can take the form of verbal, physical, relational, or cyber attacks (Olweus & Limber, 2007). It is important to recognize, however, that bullying involves many more people than just the bully and victim. Often bullying occurs in front of a group of peers. Salmivalli and colleagues (1996) studied the behavioral responses children enact in bullying situations, and found that 87% of students could be labeled as taking part in the process in some fashion, either as Bully, Assistant, Reinforcer, Defender, or Bystander. In a naturalistic study O’Connell, Pepler, and Craig (1999) examined peers’ behavioral reactions to live bullying episodes. Close analysis of 53 videotaped episodes from the playground revealed that onlookers actively reinforced bullies 21% of the time, passively reinforced bullies by standing and watching 54% of the time, and intervened to support victims only 25% of the time. These results demonstrate that peers play a central role in bullying, and are most likely to behave in ways that overtly or tacitly support the bully. In another naturalistic study, Hawkins, Pepler, and Craig (2001)
examined the frequency, nature, and effectiveness of peer intervention strategies in bullying situations. A focal sample of children identified by peers as bullies and victims were videotaped during recess over the course of 3 years. Footage revealed that while peers were present for 88% of bullying episodes, they chose to intervene only 19% of the time. Interestingly these interventions (though low-frequency occurrences) were successful in stopping ongoing acts of bullying over two-thirds of the time (Hawkins et al., 2001). This finding underscores the efficacy of peer intervention, and leads to the question: If peer intervention works so well, why do children who witness bullying typically choose to remain passive?
