Bullying/victimization from a family perspective: a qualitative study of secondary school students’ views

Abstract

The present paper uses a qualitative method in order to study the ways in which bullying is discursively organized among young adolescent students in relation to the family factors related to it. Only a few studies have linked aspects of parenting and family functioning to bullying through the use of students’ discourses despite the fact that family views and policies have a significant impact on bullying and the role the adolescent takes in relation to it, as well as the phenomenon. In the present study, 5 schools with a total number of 90 students in 14 focus groups participated through semistructured interviews. The analysis was facilitated by QSR NVivo, and three themes emerged under the heading of family-related factors of bullying: (a) difficult home environment with many conflicts between the spouses or between the parents and the young adolescents, (b) parenting styles such as parental overprotection, lack of supervision, or excessive control, and (c) domestic abuse. The findings of this study confirm patterns of bullying and its relation to familial factors in the international literature. The implications of the findings are discussed in light of intervention, as well as prevention.