Abstract
Bullying among students is a huge issue in schools. It is a particular problem for children and adolescents with language impairment, autism, and attention- deficit hyperactivity disorder (Chen & Schwartz, 2012; Redmond, 2011).
Bullying is a type of aggressive behavior characterized by a person (the bully) abusing his or her power and repeatedly exposing the victim to negative actions in the form of physical, verbal, or relational abuse. Instances of bullying have been increasing in recent years in schools. And bullying appears to be happening at earlier ages and with greater frequency (Monks, Smith, & Swettenham, 2005; Vlachou, Andreou, Botsoglou, & Didaskalou, 2011). Two different models have been proposed that describe the bully alternatively as a child lacking in social skills (Crick & Dodge, 1994) or as a cold manipulative individual, who leads gangs to achieve personal goals (Sutton, Smith, & Swettenham, 1999). Much of the research focus on bullying has been with older children, late elementary through high school. But the seeds of bullying and victimization occur much earlier. Several recent studies have proposed that deficits in theory of mind (ToM) before elementary school might be involved (Gasser & Keller, 2009; Jansen, Veenstra, Ormel, Verhulst, & Reijneveld, 2011; Shakoor et al., 2012; Vlachou et al., 2011). In Britain, Shakoor and colleagues visited families when children were 5, 7, 10, and 12 years. ToM was assessed when the children were 5 years using eight standardized tasks. Identification of those children who were involved in bullying as victims, bullies, and bully-victims using mothers’, teachers’ and children’s reports was carried out when they were 12 years old. Bully-victims are involved in aggressive exchanges as both initiators and targets. Bullies are only aggressors; they are not victimized. Bully-victims are inefficacious aggressors who react impulsively and inadequately in social exchanges. They are behaviorally and emotionally dysregulated and are rejected and victimized by their peers. In contrast, bullies are efficacious aggressors who perform their aggression in a controlled way that gives them access to resources. Poor ToM at age 5 predicted becoming a victim or bully-victim in early adolescence. These associations remained for victims and bully-victims when child-specific (e.g., IQ) and family factors (e.g., child maltreatment) were controlled for.
Studies typically show that children who are bully-victims have social skill/ToM deficits. ToM deficits vary in bullies and victims. Both bullies and bully-victims exhibit deficits in moral motivation. Even though they know what is morally right or wrong, they did not feel obligated to do the right thing (Gasser & Keller, 2009). Although the ToM scores of bullies may not be as high as ToM scores of prosocial children, their ToM levels are frequently associated with environmental factors. Some bullies even show intact or superior ToM skills (Gini, 2006; Monks et al., 2005). These competencies may allow them to anticipate others’ thought and actions and therefore to efficaciously manipulate the group processes underlying the dynamics of bullying. Many children who are victims have deficits in ToM, but some victims have adequate ToM. Their victimization is related to withdrawn behaviors and shy or fearful temperaments that inhibit their responses to bullies. Their social skills needs are somewhat different from victims and bully-victims who do not have ToM.
Research shows that individual differences in perspective taking/ToM and moral competencies are related to bullying and victimization already in elementary school. This points to the need for early intervention and the need for intervention programs to consider the specific needs of bullies, bully-victims, and victims. Researchers suggest that identifying and supporting children with poor ToM early in life could help reduce their vulnerability for involvement in bullying and thus limit its adverse effects on mental health.