Racial and ethnic differences in the risk factors associated with bully victimization

Abstract

Bullying victimization has been recognized as a social issue facing a large proportion of America’s children and adolescents. Although important contributions to the knowledge base have been made regarding risk factors for bullying, little is known about whether a relationship between the potential victim’s race/ethnicity and their likelihood of bully victimization exists. Further, whether the factors that place persons at risk for bullying victimization are invariant across groups is unknown. The present study attempts to fill these voids in the literature by using a national sample and incorporating a more comprehensive list of predictors compared to what has been used in previous studies. Results indicate that risk factors for bullying are largely invariant across race and ethnicity.

Keywords:

• juveniles
• minorities
• race
• victimology

Notes

1 We also ran the multivariate models with only the 13- and 14-year olds to ensure that we examined the independent variables at times before any bully victimization could have occurred. The results were substantively similar, and thus we include 12, 13, and 14 year olds to have a larger sample.

2 Running away from home, gang membership, and getting arrested/being taken into custody were excluded from analysis as they are not a conclusive indication of committing a criminal offense.