Bullying And Victim Behavior In Rural Secondary School Students: Incidence, Manifestations, Interrelations

Abstract

The phenomenon of bullying is the subject of close interest to researchers who study the well-being of children in school. Although the problem of school bullying is studied in many countries, the data on its prevalence and interrelations with victim behavior in rural school students are insufficient and contradictory. The purpose of the study is to identify the specificity of bullying prevalence and its interrelations with propensity for victim behavior in rural school students. To study characteristics of school bullying, the Russian version of the Smob questionnaire is used. Propensity for victim behavior is identified by means of "Methods of studying the propensity for victim behavior." The study is based at one of rural schools and involves 101 girls and boys aged 10-17. Over half of the students are exposed to systematic and prolonged bullying. Bullying in different spheres occurs with various frequency. Out of the ten most frequent manifestations of bullying, six manifestations are aimed at violating a students possibility to communicate, two – at diminishing their social status and one – at breaking social ties. Three out of the ten bullying manifestations are associated with the teachers’ traumatic actions. Susceptibility to bullying is closely related to intensity and type of a student’s propensity for victim behavior. Bullying on the part of teachers correlates with a student’s low self-criticism. To prevent bullying, we propose uniting efforts at the level of the childs personality, other students and teachers by means of involving the family, the community and social organizations in this process.