Social Contagion in Bullying: an Examination of Strains and Types of Bullying Victimization in Peer Networks
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Social Contagion in Bullying: an Examination of Strains and Types of Bullying Victimization in Peer Networks Megan Stubbs-Richardson 1 & David C. May 2 Received: 28 May 2020 / Accepted: 17 September 2020/ # Southern Criminal Justice Association 2020
Abstract This study examined risk and protective factors for four types of bullying victimization – physical, verbal, relational, and cyber bullying – while assessing the influence of vicarious, anticipated, and experienced strains from General Strain Theory. In this study, experienced strain was operationalized as exposure to negative stimuli, such as rejection. Vicarious strain was operationalized as witnessing or being aware of other people’s negative experiences, such as peer victimization, and anticipated strain occurred when an individual had negative expectations about the future, such as a fear of harm. Using a sample of Southeastern high school students, this study found that individuals who experienced vicarious strain (peer victimization) had a higher likelihood of experiencing the same type of victimization as their peers. Previous bullies were also likely to experience the same type of bullying that they initiated. Anticipated strain (fear of attack) was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing verbal and cyber bullying. Adult support was associated with an increased likelihood of verbal bullying but decreased likelihood of relational bullying victimization. Peer support was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing relational and cyber bullying victimization. The results support Agnew’s (2006) proposal that experienced, vicarious, and anticipated strains are correlated with antisocial behavior and victimization (Zavala & Spohn, 2013). Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed. Keywords General strain theory . Types of bullying . Physical bullying . Verbal bullying .
Relational bullying . Cyber bullying
* Megan Stubbs-Richardson [email protected]
1
Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University, 1 Research Blvd, Starkville, MS 39759, USA
2
Department of Sociology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA
American Journal of Criminal Justice
Introduction Bullying is one of the most pervasive concerns among educators, parents, and students in the United States (Patchin & Hinduja, 2016). Numerous articles, programs, and funded research projects have sought to understand the causes and consequences of bullying in an effort to reduce its presence and harmful effects. Nevertheless, bullying continues to be prevalent in schools throughout the United States, and additional research is needed to attempt to understand its causes (Brock, Kriger, & Miró, 2018). One promising avenue to address this problem is to better understand strain related risk and protective factors for types of bullying so that efforts to prevent all types of bullying, both inside and outside of schools, can have greater likelihood of success. The purpose of this study is to assess strain related risk an
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