Abstract
Bullying prevention is increasingly targeting education to bystanders, but more information is needed on the complexities of bystander actions across a wide variety of incidents, including both online and in-person peer harassment. The current study analyzes victim report data from a nationally representative survey of youth ages 10–20 (n = 791; 51 % female). Bystander presence was common across all harassment incident types (80 % of incidents). In contrast to previous research, our study found that supportive bystander behaviors occurred at relatively high rates. Unfortunately, antagonistic bystander behaviors, although less common, were predictive of higher negative impact for the victim. A large percentage of victims (76 %) also disclosed the harassment to confidants, who play an important role as secondary bystanders. While friends were the most common confidant, incidents were also disclosed to adults at high rates (60 %) and with mostly positive results. The findings suggest that prevention programs could increase their impact by targeting education to both direct witnesses and confidants, and considering a wider variety of peer victimization incident types.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Abt SRBI, Inc. (2014). Technology-based Harrassment Victimization Survey: Methodology report. Silver Spring, MD: Author. http://unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/THV%20Methodology%20Report_Final_140401.pdf on 7/15/15.
Craig, W. M., & Pepler, D. J. (1997). Observations of bullying and victimization in the school yard. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 13(2), 41–59.
Craig, W. M., Pepler, D., & Atlas, R. (2000). Observations of bullying in the playground and in the classroom. School Psychology International, 21(1), 22.
Davis, S., & Nixon, C. (2010). Preliminary results from the youth voice research project: Victimization and strategies. Retrieved from http://njbullying.org/documents/YVPMarch2010.pdf on 08/18/15.
Dempsey, A. G., Sulkowski, M. L., Nichols, R., & Storch, E. A. (2009). Differences between peer victimization in cyber and physical settings and associated psychosocial adjustment in early adolescence. Psychology in the Schools, 46(10), 962–972.
Ferráns, S. D., Selman, R. L., & Feigenberg, L. F. (2012). Rules of the culture and personal needs: Witnesses’ decision-making processes to deal with situations of bullying in middle school. Harvard Educational Review, 82(4), 445–470.
Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Shattuck, A., & Hamby, S. (2013). Violence, crime and abuse exposure in a national sample of children and youth: An update. Pediatrics, 167(7), 614–621.
Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10(4), 512–527.
Johnson, S. L., Waasdorp, T. E., Debnam, K., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2013). The role of bystander perceptions and school climate in influencing victims’ responses to bullying: To retaliate or seek support? Journal of Criminology, 37(3), 1–10.
Kärnä, A., Voeten, M., Little, T. D., Poskiparta, E., Kaljonen, A., & Salmivalli, C. (2011). A large-scale evaluation of the KiVa antibullying program: Grades 4–6. Child Development, 82(1), 311–330.
Kohut, A., Keeter, S., Doherty, C., Dimock, M., & Christian, L. (2012). Assessing the representativeness of public opinion surveys. Washington D.C: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2007). Electronic bullying among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), S22–S30.
Mitchell, K. J., Jones, L. M., Turner, H. A., Shattuck, A., & Wolak, J. (2015). The role of technology in peer harassment: Does it amplify harm for youth? Psychology of Violence,. doi:10.1037/a0039317.
Nishina, A., & Bellmore, A. (2010). When might peer aggression, victimization, and conflict have its largest impact? Microcontextual considerations. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 30(1), 5–26.
O’Connell, P., Pepler, D., & Craig, W. (1999). Peer involvement in bullying: Insights and challenges for intervention. Journal of Adolescence, 22(4), 437–452.
Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2010). Bullying in school: Evaluation and dissemination of the Olweus bullying prevention program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80(1), 124–134.
Polanin, J. R., Espelage, D. L., & Pigott, T. D. (2012). A meta-analysis of school-based bullying prevention programs’ effects on bystander intervention behavior and empathy attitude. School Psychology Review, 41(1), 47–65.
Sainio, M., Veenstra, R., Huitsing, G., & Salmivalli, C. (2010). Victims and their defenders: A dyadic approach. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 0165025410378068.
Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(2), 112–120.
Salmivalli, C. (2014). Participant roles in bullying: How can peer bystanders be utilized in interventions? Theory Into Practice, 53(4), 286–292.
Salmivalli, C., Lagerspetz, K., Björkqvist, K., Österman, K., & Kaukiainen, A. (1996). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group. Aggressive Behavior, 22(1), 1–15.
Salmivalli, C., Voeten, M., & Poskiparta, E. (2011). Bystanders matter: Associations between reinforcing, defending, and the frequency of bullying behavior in classrooms. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40(5), 668–676.
Sticca, F., & Perren, S. (2013). Is cyberbullying worse than traditional bullying? Examining the differential roles of medium, publicity, and anonymity for the perceived severity of bullying. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(5), 739–750.
Stueve, A., Dash, K., O’Donnell, L., Tehranifar, P., Wilson-Simmons, R., & Slaby, R. (2006). Rethinking the bystander role in school violence prevention. Health Promotion Practice, 7, 117–124.
Turner, H. A., Mitchell, K. J., Jones, L. M., & Shattuck, A. (in press). Assessing the impact of harassment by peers: Incident characteristics and outcomes in a national sample of youth. Journal of School Violence.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by Grant No. 2012-IJ-CX-0024 awarded by the National Institute of Justice. Points of view or opinions in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Author contributions
L.J. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, and drafted the manuscript; K.M. participated in the study design, data analysis, interpretation and writing for the manuscript; H.T. participated in the interpretation of the data and writing for the manuscript. All authors read and approved the current manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jones, L.M., Mitchell, K.J. & Turner, H.A. Victim Reports of Bystander Reactions to In-Person and Online Peer Harassment: A National Survey of Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 44, 2308–2320 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0342-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0342-9