Peer aggression, victimization, and conflict are common occurrences during early adolescence. In the collection of articles in this special issue, several themes emerged, including the use of social psychological theory, individual difference variables, and social context. This article briefly reviews these articles and presents original data that examine microcontextual characteristics (i.e., context of specific events) of sixth and ninth graders’ peer victimization. Students completed daily reports on 5 school days across 2 weeks. Adolescents’ experiences were mostly public (i.e., witnessed by another individual) and perpetrated by a single student from the same grade. Adolescents were unlikely to receive help from others (less than half the time when a witness was present). Ninth-grade data suggest that friends are the most likely witnesses to help the target. Strangers to the target never intervened or tried to help. These findings are discussed in light of implications for prevention and intervention.
Adams, R., Bartlett, N., & Bukowski, W. ( 2010). Peer victimization and social dominance as intervening variables of the link between peer liking and relational aggression. Journal of Early Adolescence.
2.
Ahn, H.-J., Garandeau, C., & Rodkin, P. ( 2010). Effects of classroom embeddedness and density on the social status of aggressive and victimized children. Journal of Early Adolescence.
3.
Buhs, E., McGinley, M., & Toland, M. ( 2010). Overt and relational victimization in Latinos and European-Americans: Measurement equivalence across ethnicity, gender, and grade-level in early adolescent groups. Journal of Early Adolescence.
4.
Caravita, S., Di Blasio, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2010). Early adolescents’ participation in bullying is ToM involved?Journal of Early Adolescence.
5.
Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. ( 2009). Policy statement role of the pediatrician in youth violence prevention. Pediatrics, 124, 393-402.
6.
Cowie, H., & Olafsson, R. ( 2000). The role of peer support in helping the victims of bullying in a school with high levels of aggression. School Psychology International, 21, 79-95.
7.
Darley, J.M., & Latane, B. ( 1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377-383.
8.
Dodge, K.A., Coie, J.D., & Lynam, D. ( 2006). Aggression and antisocial behavior in youth. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child Psychology: Vol. 3, Social, emotional, and personality development (6 ed., pp. 719-788). Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley.
9.
Eder, D. ( 1995). School talk: Gender and adolescent culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
10.
Eisenberg, M.E., & Aalsma, M.C. ( 2005). Bullying and peer victimization: Position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Journal of Adolescent Health , 36, 88-91.
11.
Gleason, M.E.J., Iida, M., Bolger, N., & Shrout, P.E. ( 2003). Daily supportive equity in close relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1036-1045.
12.
Graham, S., Bellmore, A.D., & Mize, J. ( 2006). Peer victimization, aggression, and their co-occurrence in middle school: Pathways to adjustment problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 363-378.
13.
Juvonen, J., & Graham, S. ( 2001). Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized. New York: Guilford Press.
14.
Juvonen, J., & Gross, E.F. ( 2008). Extending the school grounds? Bullying experiences in cyberspace. Journal of School Health, 78, 496-505.
15.
Kinney, D.A. ( 1993). From nerds to normals: The recovery of identity among adolescents from middle school to high school. Sociology of Education, 66, 21-40.
16.
Kochenderfer-Ladd, B., & Pelletier, M.E. (2008). Teachers’ views and beliefs about bullying: Influences on classroom management strategies and students’ coping with peer victimization. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 431-453.
17.
Mata, J., Ghavami, N., & Wittig, M. ( 2010). Understanding gender differences in early adolescents’ sexual prejudice. Journal of Early Adolescence.
18.
Nansel, T.R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R.S., Ruan, W.J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. ( 2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094-2100.
19.
Neal, J. ( 2010). Social aggression and social position in middle childhood and early adolescence: Burning bridges or building them? J ournal of Early Adolescence.
20.
Nesdale, D. ( 2008). Peer group rejection and children’s intergroup prejudice. In S. R. Levy & M. Killen (Eds.), Intergroup attitudes and relations in childhood through adulthood (pp. 32-46). New York: Oxford University Press.
21.
Nishina, A., & Juvonen, J. ( 2005). Daily reports of witnessing and experiencing peer harassment in middle school. Child Development, 76, 435-450.
22.
Nishina, A.R. ( 2003). Peer victimization in school: Implications for mental health, physical symptoms, and school adjustment. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(01B), 427. (UMI No. 3076598)
23.
Nylund, K., Bellmore, A., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. ( 2007). Subtypes, severity, and structural stability of peer victimization: What does latent class analysis say?Child Development, 78, 1706-1722.
24.
Olweus, D. ( 2004). The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme: Design and implementation issues and a new national initiative in Norway. In P. K. Smith, D. Pepler , & K. Rigby (Eds.), Bullying in schools: How successful can interventions be? (pp. 13-36). New York: Cambridge University Press.
25.
Pellegrini, A.D., & Bartini, M. ( 2000). A longitudinal study of bullying, victimization, and peer affiliation during the transition from primary school to middle school . American Educational Research Journal, 37, 699-725.
Roland, E., & Galloway, D. ( 2002). Classroom influences on bullying. Educational Research, 44, 299-312.
28.
Sanders, C.E., & Phye, G.D. ( 2004). Bullying: Implications for the classroom. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.
29.
Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. ( 1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. New York: Cambridge University Press.
30.
Smith, P.K. ( 1997). Bullying in schools: The UK experience and the Sheffield Anti-Bullying Project. Irish Journal of Psychology, 18, 191-201.
31.
Smith, P.K., Cowie, H., Olafsson, R.F., & Liefooghe, A.P.D. (2002). Definitions of bullying: A comparison of terms used, and age and gender differences, in a fourteen-country international comparison. Child Development, 73, 1119-1133.
32.
Smith, P.K., Madsen, K.C., & Moody, J.C. ( 1999). What causes the age decline in reports of being bullied at school? Towards a developmental analysis of risks of being bullied. Educational Research, 41, 267-285.
33.
Verkuyten, M., & Thijs, J. ( 2010). Religious group relations among Christian, Muslim and non-religious early adolescents in the Netherlands. Journal of Early Adolescence.
34.
Ybarra, M.L., Diener-West, M., & Leaf, P.J. ( 2007). Examining the overlap in Inter-net harassment and school bullying: Implications for school intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, S42-S50.
