REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Related Literature

Bullying or peer victimization can be defined as an aggressive behavior repeated

over time with the intention to harm the victim. It is characterized by an imbalance of

power between the bully and the victim, with the bullied person being the weaker of the

two. Different forms of bullying have been distinguished. Physical bullying is

characterized by observable behaviors including hitting, pushing, and insulting.

Relational forms of bullying or aggression refer to more subtle, indirect forms of behavior

such as spreading untrue rumors and socially excluding the victim. Verbal bullying

involves teasing, taunting, spreading rumors, and threatening. Peer victimization has

been found to increase the risk for mental health problems, such as anxiety or

depression, and also leads to poor academic outcomes. In children with chronic

illnesses, peer victimization has also been linked to poorer treatment adherence.

(Pinquart, 2017)

It has been suggested that children and adolescents with chronic health

conditions have an increased risk of being bullied. First, a child who is physically

different is an easy target for victimization. Symptoms of the disease or treatment

regimens may cause peers to perceive them as being different. For example, children

with facial disfigurement may not meet the beauty standards of their peer group. In

addition, children with chronic illnesses may be perceived as physically weaker, and are

therefore vulnerable to peer victimization. Next, young people with chronic illnesses are

at increased risk for showing reduced social functioning (social and communication
skills) and academic performance, which could provoke negative reactions from their

peers. In addition, psychological vulnerabilities, such as reduced self-esteem or a

negative body image, of these children may increase the risk of being bullied. Finally,

some authors have suggested that negative attitudes expressed by peers toward an

illness, or even peer prejudices about children with disabilities, may increase the risk of

being bullied.(Pinquart, 2017)

The current study used meta-regression to establish trends in bullying

from 1998 to 2017, to identify factors that help explain variation in bullying trends,

and to determine differences in the trends by gender and grade. This study

focused on trends of face-to-face (FTF) bullying victimization and perpetration,

cyberbullying victimization, relational bullying victimization, verbal bullying

victimization, and physical bullying victimization, as well as characteristics of the

youth involved. It also explored methodological and survey differences to help

determine which factors contribute to variation from study to study. A systematic

search found 91 studies reporting trends of bullying, from 1998 to 2017, that met

predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings illustrate no significant

time trend when looking at FTF bullying victimization, yet an increasing time

trend for cyberbullying victimization. Additional trends begin to emerge when

stratifying the findings by grade and gender, with FTF bullying victimization

among boys declining, while FTF bullying victimization among girls is increasing.

Across both FTF bullying victimization and cyberbullying victimization, younger

adolescents report significantly more bullying than older adolescents, and this is

consistent over time. Verbal and physical bullying victimization as well as FTF
bullying perpetration have significantly declined over time. This study also

identified key variables that contribute to the variation from trend study to trend

study. The implications of these findings inform both policy and practice and

provide insight into the overall scope of bullying within the United States.

(Olweus, et al., 2019)

Bullying in childhood is a major public health problem that increases the

risk of poor health, social and educational outcomes in childhood and

adolescence. These consequences are felt by all those involved in bullying

(bullies, victims and bully–victims) and are now recognized to propagate deep

into adulthood. Cyberbullying is a relatively new type of bullying in addition to the

traditional forms of direct physical, direct verbal and indirect bullying. Children

who are perceived as being ‘different’ in any way are at greater risk of

victimization, with physical appearance being the most frequent trigger of

childhood bullying. Globally, one in three children have been bullied in the past

30 days, although there is substantial regional variation in the prevalence and

type of bullying experienced. The consequences of childhood bullying can be

categorized into three broad categories: educational consequences during

childhood, health consequences during childhood and all consequences during

adulthood. Many dose–response relationships exist between the frequency and

intensity of bullying experienced and the severity of negative health consequence

reported. The majority of victims of cyberbullying are also victims of traditional

bullying, meaning cyberbullying creates very few additional victims. Overall,

adverse mental health outcomes due to bullying in childhood most severely

impact on bully–victims. Bullying prevention is vital for the achievement of the

Sustainable Development Goals, with whole-school cooperative learning

interventions having the strongest evidence base for successful outcomes. Clear

management and referral pathways for health professionals dealing with

childhood bullying are lacking in both primary and secondary care, although

specialist services are available locally and online. (Armitage, 2021)

Legal Basis

This study is the first to comprehensively examine the effect of state anti-

bullying laws (ABLs) on school safety and youth violence. Using existing data

from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys and the Uniform Crime Reports, and

newly-collected data on school shootings, we find little evidence that the typical

state ABL is effective in improving school safety and student well-being.

However, this null finding masks substantial policy heterogeneity. State

mandates that require school districts to implement strong, comprehensive anti-

bullying policies are associated with a 7 to 13 % reduction in school violence and

an 8 to 12 % reduction in bullying. In addition, our results show that strong anti-

bullying policy mandates are associated with a reduction in minor teen school

shooting deaths and violent crime arrests, suggesting potentially important

spillover effects. (Sabia, et al., 2017)

 Bullying is the user of violence, threats, or coercion to abuse or intimidates

others. Threats and insults at this time are carried out not only directly through

face to face between the perpetrator and the victim but can be done through

intermediary means, such as cell phones, short messages, or social media. Not

infrequently bullying on social media places children as victims. The approach

method used in this study is a normative juridical approach. Legal protection for

children has been regulated in Law Number 17 of 2016. In the second

amendment to the Child Protection Act, this action may be subject to Article 27

paragraph (3) of Law Number 11 Year concerning Information and Electronic

Transactions. There needs to be learning to children how to respect and respect,

law enforcement officials need to be improved for investigation and verification as

well as human resources of law enforcement personnel themselves, as well as

socialization for parents and students in schools about the impact and

consequences of bullying. (Laurensius, et al., 2019)

Bullying and cyberbullying have severe psychological and legal

consequences for those involved. However, it is unclear how or even if previous

experience of bullying and cyberbullying is considered in mental health

assessments. Furthermore, the relevance and effectiveness of current legal

solutions has been debated extensively, resulting in a desire for a specific

legislation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological and legal

components of bullying and cyberbullying. This is a qualitative research that

includes interviews with five practitioner psychologists and four lawyers in the

United Kingdom (UK). Thematic analysis revealed three main themes. One
theme is related to the definition, characteristics, and impact of bullying and

cyberbullying and the need for more discussion among the psychological and

legal professions. Another theme is related to current professional procedures

and the inclusion of questions about bullying and cyberbullying in psychological

risk assessments. The third theme emphasized the importance of intervention

through education. Two key messages were highlighted by the lawyers: ample

yet problematic legislation exists, and knowledge will ensure legal success. The

study recommends the necessity of performing revisions in the clinical

psychological practices and assessments, and the legal policies regarding

bullying and cyberbullying. In addition to improving legal success, this will reduce

bullying prevalence rates, psychological distress, and psychopathology that can

be comorbid or emerge as a result of this behaviour. (Samara, et al., 2017)

Foreign Studies

This study investigated students' perspectives about bullying towards

same-country and immigrant peers. Thirty-five Italian and immigrant students

(age range: 11–15) took part to the study. Participants were probed with two

bullying scenarios, depicting respectively a new classmate from another Italian

city and from a foreign country. A Grounded Theory approach was adopted to

examine participants' perspectives about the motives for bullying. Findings

showed that a process of socializing deviance is at the core of both forms of

bullying. This social process refers to a series of shared beliefs within the peer

group about the victim's deviant features. Three sub-categories related to both
forms of bullying emerged from the core concept: (a) Rejecting the newcomer

deviance, (b) Rejecting physical deviance, (c) and Rejecting personality

deviance. These sub-categories were related to the sub-categories of bullying

towards immigrant peers: (d) Rejecting cultural deviance, (e) and Learned

racism. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical

relevance. (Mazzone, et al., 2018)

Early-life adversities are considered to have long-term impact on health.

There have been many studies regarding the experience of being bullied and its

harmful psychological influence, but such influence on workers remains to be

investigated in Japan. We therefore aimed to examine the prevalence of workers

with experiences of being bullied or bullying others during childhood and

adolescence and to clarify the relation between those experiences and current

psychological distress. A cross-sectional study using an anonymous self-report

web questionnaire was conducted in November 2017. The study population was

19,481 workers belonging to the Tsukuba Science City Network, and we

analyzed the data of 6,015 participants (3,715 men and 2,300 women, aged

between 20 years and 59 years). The percentages of participants with

experiences of being bullied were 51.5% for men and 56.2% for women; those

with experiences of bullying others were 36.5% of men and 29.4% of women.

Relations between experiences of bullying and psychological distress were

assessed using Chi-squared tests. Logistic regression analyses with

psychological distress as an objective variable and experiences of bulling as

explanatory variables were performed using those who had no bulling

experiences as control. In both men and women, experiences of being bullied

were significantly associated with psychological distress after adjustment

socioeconomic factors. Consideration of past social experiences, such as being

bullied, is useful for mental health management among workers reporting

psychological distress. (Ikeda, et al., 2020)

In another research, 534 Latino students from middle and high schools in

a large North Carolina school district, we examined the relation of general and

ethnic-biased bullying to depression and the indirect pathways through

depression to suicidal ideation and substance use outcomes. A structural

equation model tested the direct and indirect paths. Ethnic-biased and verbal or

relational bullying had a direct effect on depression, but general and physical

bullying did not. Indirect effects through depression were found for ethnic-biased

and verbal or relational bullying in relation to suicidal ideation, alcohol, and illicit

drug use. Child nativity was marginally associated with ethnic-biased bullying,

indicating foreign-born students may experience greater ethnic-biased bullying.

Implications for future research and bullying prevention are discussed. (Cardoso,

et al., 2018)
Local Studies

In the population-based study, they analysed data from a nationally

representative cross-sectional study, What About Youth, which enrolled a

random sample of 298 080 school pupils drawn from 564 886 National Pupil

Database records of adolescents aged 15 years, living in England, with matching

postcode and local authority data, to complete self-report surveys between Sept

22, 2014, and Jan 9, 2015. Mental well-being, defined as life satisfaction, fulfilling

social relationships, purpose in life, and a subjective sense of flourishing, was

assessed using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and was

compared between those adolescents who reported traditional bullying (including

physical, verbal, and relational bullying) or cyberbullying 2–3 times a month or

more compared with those adolescents who reported traditional bullying and

cyberbullying once or twice in the past couple of months or less. Traditional

bullying was defined as repeated, intentional aggression that is targeted at a

person who cannot easily defend himself or herself; cyberbullying was

additionally defined as taking place in an electronic context (eg, e-mail, blogs,

instant messages, text messages). (Przybylski, et al., 2017)

Bullying behaviors have been studied extensively in Western countries;

however, no national data exist regarding this issue in contemporary China.

Using a sample of 14,536 children in Grades 6, 8, and 10 from public schools in

11 provinces or autonomous regions in rural and urban China, their study

assesses the prevalence of bullying behaviors among school-aged children in

China and examines the correlation between bullying and psychosocial

adjustment. Results indicate that 6.3% of children reported having been bullied in

the last 3 months, 2.5% of children admitted to bullying other students, and 2.2%

said they were bullied and bullied others in that same time frame. More boys than

girls reported bullying others and being victims of bullying. The frequency of

bullying is higher in Grades 6 and 8 than in Grade 10. Rural children are more

often involved in bullying than their urban counterparts. Perpetrating and being a

victim of bullying are associated with poorer psychosocial adjustment, although

different patterns are observed among bullies, those bullied, and those who bully

others and have been bullied. Health care professionals should be sensitive to

bullying behaviors when identifying students with psychosocial maladjustment.

Moreover, programs designed to prevent and intervene in school bullying would

benefit from a holistic approach. (Zhang, et al., 2019)

 References:

Pinquart, M. (2017). Systematic review: bullying involvement of children with and

without chronic physical illness and/or physical/sensory disability—a meta-

analytic comparison with healthy/nondisabled peers. Journal of pediatric

psychology, 42(3), 245-259.

Olweus, D., Limber, S. P., & Breivik, K. (2019). Addressing specific forms of

bullying: A large-scale evaluation of the Olweus bullying prevention

program. International Journal of Bullying Prevention, 1, 70-84.

Armitage, R. (2021). Bullying in children: Impact on child health. BMJ paediatrics

open, 5(1).

Sabia, J. J., & Bass, B. (2017). Do anti-bullying laws work? New evidence

on school safety and youth violence. Journal of population economics, 30, 473-

502.

Laurensius, S., Situngkir, D., Putri, R., & Fauzi, R. (2019, March). Cyber

Bullying Against Children In Indonesia. In Proceedings of the first International

Conference on Social Sciences, Humanities, Economics and Law, September 5-

6 2018, Padang, Indonesia.

 Samara, M., Burbidge, V., El Asam, A., Foody, M., Smith, P. K., & Morsi,

H. (2017). Bullying and cyberbullying: Their legal status and use in psychological

assessment. International journal of environmental research and public

health, 14(12), 1449.

Rajamanickam, R., Ramli, F. S., Na'aim, M. S. M., Hassan, M. S., &

Hashim, H. (2019). Defining bullying among students from criminal law

perspective: Comparison between Malaysia and the Philippines. Universal

Journal of Educational Research.

Mazzone, A., Thornberg, R., Stefanelli, S., Cadei, L., & Caravita, S. C.

(2018). “Judging by the cover”: A grounded theory study of bullying towards

same-country and immigrant peers. Children and Youth Services Review, 91,

403-412.

Ikeda, T., Hori, D., Ikeda, Y., Takahashi, T., Shiraki, N., Andrea, C. S., ... &

Matsuzaki, I. (2020). School ijime (Bullying) experience is a possible risk factor

for current psychological distress among science city workers: a cross-sectional

study in Tsukuba, Japan. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 250(4),

223-231.

Cardoso, J. B., Szlyk, H. S., Goldbach, J., Swank, P., & Zvolensky, M. J.

(2018). General and ethnic-biased bullying among Latino students: exploring

risks of depression, suicidal ideation, and substance use. Journal of immigrant

and minority health, 20, 816-822.

 Zhang, H., Zhou, H., & Tao, T. (2019). Bullying behaviors and

psychosocial adjustment among school-aged children in China. Journal of

interpersonal violence, 34(11), 2363-2375.