The Student's Perspective: Exploring Ethnic Group Variances in Bullying Behavior Using Mixed Methods Research
Although bullying is a widely recognized problem among school-aged youth, current research has failed to adequately consider whether ethnicity impacts students' involvement in, and perceptions of, bullying behaviors. This study employed a mixed methodology to examine how an ethnically diverse sample of students in seventh and eighth grade described and perceived bullying within their school. Initially, the Student Comprehensive Assessment of Bullying Behavior-Revised (SCABB-R) (Varjas, Henrich & Meyers, 2008a) was administered to students attending a suburban middle school in the Midwest (N = 750; 391 males, 359 females). Individual interviews were then conducted to further explore students' perspectives of bullying (N = 16; 7 boys, 9 girls). The results from the surveys and from the interviews revealed some convergence, but differences did appear. Nonetheless, the findings revealed that ethnicity did impact reported bullying behaviors as well as perceived reasons for being bullied.
bullying, culturally responsive practice, ethnicity, mixed methodology, School Psychology
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations