Abstract
The amount of bullying escalating in schools in recent years has been approached as an issue that needs to be investigated, whose causes need to be searched and for which preventive efforts should be made. This study is aimed at examining the bullying tendencies among preadolescents. The study was carried out with middle school preadolescents in Konya between the years 2016 and 2017. The voluntary participants were 122 female and 78 male students with an age range of 13 to 14 years. The participants were administered the Bullying Tendency Scale, which was developed and whose validity and reliability was established by Dölek (2002), and the demographic information about the students were collected using a Personal Information Form developed by the researcher. Analysis of the data obtained in the study revealed significant results in favour of male students in negative reflection, lack of emotional sharing, causing distress, use of force and bullying tendency according to the gender of participants. In terms of age factor, significant results were obtained in favour of 14 year-olds in causing distress, use of force and bullying tendency. For negative reflection, no significant difference was found in justification and lack of emotional sharing according to the age of preadolescents. Similarly, no significant difference was found in relation to the socio-economic status of the participants. Recommendations were offered based on the results of the study.
Highlights
As it is the case in every aspect of social life, aggression and violence have been observed to be escalating in recent years in school environments across the world and Turkey
For the gender factor, no significant result was obtained in justification for bullying (t=-.7, p=.4)
Significant results were obtained in favour of 14 year-olds in causing distress, use of force and bullying tendency
Summary
As it is the case in every aspect of social life, aggression and violence have been observed to be escalating in recent years in school environments across the world and Turkey. Violence and bullying behaviours take place in schools as examples of aggressive behaviours. James (2010) reports that bullying, as a form of aggression, occurs very often in schools. It is known that first studies on bullying in schools were undertaken by Dan Olweus in 1970s (Olweus, 1993). By definition, is a form of aggressive behaviour repeated physically, psychologically, socially and verbally against a less powerful person by a more powerful person or group of persons for their own benefits or enjoyment (Satan, 2006); a form of continual violence with physical or psychological effects committed by a person or group of persons against the weak or defenceless ones (Pişkin, 2002); longstanding and systematic violence, physical or psychological, conducted by an individual or a group directed against an individual who is not able to defend himself Ronald (1989); the continual physical, psychological, social or verbal intimidation by a stronger individual/individuals against weaker ones in order to distress them for their own benefits or enjoyment. It requires tendency and it is an unbalanced use of force (Li, 2007)
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