ABSTRACT
Bullying is a universal term. It is used in everyday language and encompasses a number of events. It can be seen as an umbrella for a range of verbal, psychological, physical and violent interactions. It is a topic that has been traditionally studied within the domains of psychology and education. Such studies have been quantitative in nature and have informed education policy. The study that is the subject of this chapter considered incidents of school violence and school bullying within a criminological and sociological framework. It was the product of four years of qualitative research and gave the pupils who took part ‘a voice’, rather than responding by tick box on yet another bullying questionnaire. I will argue that a number of feminist questions do provide a useful analytical framework. However, I will also argue that some of these questions need to be expanded and that ultimately gender is just one of many concepts to consider. School bullying must be viewed in its ‘whole context’ and gender should not be looked at in isolation. Otherwise there is a danger of excluding the role of the male pupils at the expense of the female ones.
