Do the same social mechanisms explain bullying in different classrooms? A commentary on Madhavi & Smith and Atria, Strohmeier, & Spiel

Abstract

This paper reviews two studies on between-classroom variation in bullying by Mahdavi and Smith and by Atria, Strohmeier, and Spiel in this issue. Both studies demonstrated large variability between classrooms in the prevalence of bullying and the distribution of participant roles. The authors of the original studies consider this variability at odds with the influential participant roles and scapegoating approaches to bullying. In contrast, this review proposes that the essence of these theoretical approaches is to explain variance, both within and between classrooms, and over time. More explicit theorizing concerning determinants of between-classroom variance and assessment of classroom-level variables implicated by this theorizing are called for.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Tjeert Olthoff and the other members of the Dutch Consortium on Bullying for sharing their insights with me.

Notes

¹Or longitudinal with infrequent measurement occasions.