Aggressive,Delinquent, and Violent Outcomes of School Bullying: Do Family and Individual Factors Have a Protective Function?

Bullying perpetration at school is a long-term predictor of aggression, delinquency, and violence. Most research concentrates on risk factors for such developments, whereas protective factors have been rarely addressed. Therefore, the present study investigates potentially protective effects of family and child characteristics in a prospective longitudinal design. The sample contained 519 youngsters (253 boys and 266 girls) from the Erlangen-Nuremberg Development and Prevention Study. Bullying perpetration was measured at age 9.0 years, mothers’ and children's reports on family and individual characteristics were collected at age 10.6, and outcomes in self-reported aggressive/violent offending and mother-reported aggressive and delinquent behavior were collected at age 13.7. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed main effects and interactions. The latter suggest buffering protective effects of consistent discipline in parenting and children's intelligence, positive attitude to school, prosocial behavior skills, low hyperactivity/inattention, and an anxious/depressive mood. The findings varied across the two outcome measures and with regard to gender. Implications for further research and prevention practice are discussed.     

Liked by Peers or Liked by Teachers: Differential Patterns of Bullying over Time

ABSTRACT

We examined the tendency for high status children to bully their classmates. Children liked by peers only (LPO), liked by teachers only (LTO), liked by both (Both), liked by neither (Neither), and children with average peer and teacher liking (Average) were compared on self-, teacher-, and peer-reported bullying. Participants were 676 fourth-grade children (50.7% girls). Children in the Neither group evinced the highest level of bullying, which increased significantly from fall to spring. We found little evidence that children in the Both group differed from other groups or that their bullying increased over time. Self-reported physical bullying increased for boys in the LPO and Average groups and for girls in the LTO and Neither groups. Gender-specific findings have implications for researchers and practitioners.     

Life domains and crime: A test of Agnew's general theory of crime and delinquency

Purpose

This study presents a preliminary test of Agnew's general theory of crime and delinquency. This study examines whether each of the five life domain variables at the core of Agnew's theory is related to recidivism, whether there is a non-linear relationship between the life domains and recidivism, and whether the five life domains interact in causing recidivism.

Methods

Data were derived from the baseline survey of the Maryland Boot Camp Experiment and through a criminal records check conducted by the Maryland Department of Public Safety.

Results

Overall, the results lend weak support for Agnew's general theory. In particular, only two of the five life domains, having a bad job and being a high school dropout, are significantly correlated with recidivism. Further, with the exception of the peers domain, there is neither a linear nor a non-linear relationship between the life domains and recidivism. The results also reveal that none of the two-way bivariate interactions are significant in a multivariate linear probability model.

Conclusions

Although our findings are not supportive of Agnew's (2005) general theory of crime, the theory contains many other implications that we simply did not have the data to address.     

Polytraumatization and trauma symptoms in adolescent boys and girls: interpersonal and noninterpersonal events and moderating effects of adverse family circumstances

The objective of this study was to investigate the cumulative effect of interpersonal and noninterpersonal traumatic life events (IPEs and nIPEs, respectively) on the mental health of adolescents and to determine if the adverse impacts of trauma were moderated by adverse family circumstances (AFC). Adolescents (mean age 16.7 years) from the normative population (n = 462) completed the questionnaire, the Link?ping Youth Life Experience Scale (LYLES), together with Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The lifetime accumulation of interpersonal, noninterpersonal, and AFC was independently related to trauma-related symptoms in both boys and girls. The number of AFCs moderated the mental health impact of both IPEs and nIPEs in boys but not in girls. Cumulative exposure to both interpersonal and noninterpersonal traumatic events is important for the mental health of adolescents, and, at least for boys, family circumstances seem to be relevant for the impact of trauma. Our results suggest that broader approaches to the study, prevention, and treatment of trauma, including consideration of cumulative exposure, different types of trauma, and additional social risk factors, could be fruitful.     

Why is Family Violence Lower Among Mexican Immigrants? The Protective Features of Mexican Culture

Although immigrants tend to be less involved in crime than the native-born, less is known about whether immigration is protective regarding family violence and, if so, why. This is especially problematic given that some cultural features of immigrants, such as machismo, may increase family violence. Using a random sample of adults in El Paso County, Texas, the present study finds that family violence is substantially lower among first generation Mexican immigrants compared to 1.5 generation immigrants, second generation Americans and third generation or higher Americans. Higher levels of acculturation to Mexico among first generation immigrants partially mediated, or explained, this finding. However, familism and machismo were not higher among first generation Mexican immigrants; and, while lower among first generation immigrants, acculturation to the US was not associated with higher levels of family violence. Implications of these findings are discussed.