Dan Olweus

Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males: a review

Considered in the review are 16 studies on the stability of aggressive behavior and reaction patterns. There is great variation among the studies in sample composition, in definition of variables, in method of data collection, and in the ages and intervals studied. Generally, the size of a (disattenuated) stability coefficient tends to decrease linearly as the interval between the two times of measurement (T2— 7\) increases. Furthermore, the degree of stability can be broadly described as a positive linear function of the interval covered and the subjects age at the time of first measurement, expressed in the age ratio T-^/T^,. The degree of stability that exists in the area of aggression was found to be quite substantial; it was, in fact, not much lower than the stability typically found in the domain of intelligence testing. Marked individual differences in habitual aggression level manifest themselves early in life, certainly by the age of 3. It was generally concluded that (a) the degree of longitudinal consistency in aggressive behavior patterns is much greater than has been maintained by proponents of a behavioral specificity position, and (b) important determinants of the observed longitudinal consistency are to be found in relatively stable, individual-differentiating reaction tendencies or motive systems (personality variables) within individuals.

Bully/victim problems in school: Facts and intervention

Bully/victim problems among school children are a matter of considerable concern in Scandinavia and, more recently, in a number of other countries as well. Estimates based on the author’s large-scale surveys indicate that some 9% of the students in grades 1 through 9 are fairly regular victims of bullying and that 6–7% engage in bullying others with some regularity. It is argued that it is a fundamental democratic right for a child to be spared the oppression and repeated humiliation implied in bullying. The author has developed a school-based intervention programme against bullying, the effects of which were evaluated in 42 schools over a period of two years. Analyses indicate that the frequency of bully/victim problems decreased by 50–70%. In addition, the prevalence of antisocial behaviours in general such as vandalism, theft, drunkenness and truancy showed a substantial drop. The main content of the “core” programme as well as its key principles are presented. The overriding goal of the programme can be described as a “restructuring of the social environment”. The programme emphasizes behaviours and attitudes characterized by a combination of positive involvement from teachers and parents, firm limits to unacceptable behaviour (“we dont accept bullying in our class/school”), and consistent use of non-hostile non-corporal sanctions on rule violations. Explanations of the positive results include changes in the opportunity and reward “structures” for bullying behaviour.RésuméLes problèmes de brutalité entre enfants et jeunes à l’école sont particulièrement préoccupants dans les pays Scandinaves et, de plus en plus, dans d’autres pays également. Des larges enquêtes réalisées par l’auteur, il ressort que du premier au neuvième grade, près de 9% des élèves sont très règulièrement victimes de brutalités et que 6–7% des élèves en agressent d’ autres régulièrement. En démocratie, c’est un droit fondamental des enfants que d’être protégés contre l’oppression et les humiliations répétées impliquées par ces pratiques. L’auteur a mis au point un programme d’intervention scolaire contre les brutalités, dont les effets ont été évalués dans 42 écoles pendant deux ans. Les résultats montrent que la fréquence des problèmes de violence a diminué de 50–70%. En outre, l’importance des comportements antisociaux en général, tels que le vandalisme, le vol, l’alcoolisme et les absences non autorisées, a notablement diminué. Les principaux contenus du programme et ses principes-clés sont présentés. L’objectif primordial du programme peut être décrit comme une “restructuration de l’environnement social”. Le programme met l’accent sur les comportements et les attitudes caractérisés par l’association d’engagements positifs des enseignants et des parents, des limites strictes aux comportements inacceptables (“nous n’acceptons pas la brutalité dans notre classe/école”), et l’utilisation cohérente de sanctions elles-mêmes non brutales en cas de violation des règles. Les résultats positifs obtenus sont mis sur le compte de changements structuraux relatifs aux occasions et aux bénéfices des comportements de brutalité.

Bullies and victims at school: Are they the same pupils?

BACKGROUND The reported prevalence of bully-victims and aggressive/provocative victims varies quite considerably in previous research, and only a few studies have reported prevalence rates across grades. There is also a lack of detailed analyses of the extent to which victims are also bullies, and bullies are also victims. AIMS To study the prevalence of male and female bully-victims across grade/age and to establish the degree of overlap or relative size of the bully-victim group by relating them to all victims, all bullies and all involved students. SAMPLES Participants in Study 1 were 5,171 pupils in grades 5-9 from 37 schools. Study 2 comprised 12,983 pupils in grades 4-10 from 66 schools. METHODS The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was administered to the pupils in their ordinary classrooms. RESULTS The prevalence of bully-victims was low and mainly declined across grades. There were far more boys than girls in the bully-victim group. Bully-victims resembled victims only (pure victims) in terms of age-trends and bullies only (pure bullies) in terms of sex composition. The overlap of bully-victims with the total victim group was fairly small (10-20%) in all grades. In primary grades, bully-victims constituted about 30-50% of the total bully group, whereas in higher grades these proportions were considerably lower. CONCLUSION Our analyses and overview of previous research suggest that the bully-victim group is small, and that the large variations across studies are mainly due to differences in choice of cutoff point. Bully-victims should generally be seen and treated statistically as a distinct subgroup. The relatively larger proportion of bully-victims in lower grades should be explored further.

Cyberbullying: An overrated phenomenon?

The paper argues that several claims about cyberbullying made in the media and elsewhere are greatly exaggerated and have little empirical scientific support. Contradicting these claims, it turns out that cyberbullying, when studied in proper context, is a low-prevalence phenomenon, which has not increased over time and has not created many “new” victims and bullies, that is, children and youth who are not also involved in some form of traditional bullying. These conclusions are based on two quite large samples of students, one from the USA and one from Norway, both of which have time series data for periods of four or five years. It is further argued that the issue of possible negative effects of cyberbullying has not received much serious research attention and a couple of strategies for such research are suggested together with some methodological recommendations. Finally, it is generally recommended that schools direct most of their anti-bullying efforts to counteracting traditional bullying, combined with an important system-level strategy that is likely to reduce the already low prevalence of cyberbullying.

A useful evaluation design, and effects of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Abstract The article presents the logic and other characteristics of an “extended selection cohorts” quasi-experimental design. Possible threats to the validity of conclusions based on this kind of design are discussed. It is concluded that chances are good that conclusions about the effects or non-effects of school-based intervention programs will be roughly correct in most cases. The design may be particularly useful in studies where it is not possible or desirable to use a random selection of “control schools” and it should be of value to both practitioners and researchers. The design is illustrated with a study in which three consecutive cohorts of students (n approximately 21 000) were administered the Bully/Victim Questionnaire before and after some 8 months of intervention with the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). Results indicated quite substantial reductions (by 32–49%) in bully/victim problems. The “time-series” nature of the data showed convincingly that a “history interpretation” of the findings (Cook & Campbell, Quasi-experimentation. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1979) is very unlikely. The data in this project were obtained in the context of a government-funded new national initiative against bullying in Norway. The characteristics of this initiative and the model used in implementing the program in more than 450 schools were briefly described.

Prevalence and Incidence in the Study of Antisocial Behavior: Definitions and Measurements

In epidemiology, the concepts of prevalence and incidence are central (Bradford Hill, 1977; Last, 1983; Morris, 1975). Basically, prevalence (or prevalence rate) refers to the number of diseases or spells of disease existing at a particular point in time or within a specified time period related to the total number of persons exposed to risk (a population or a defined group of people). Incidence (or incidence rate) on the other hand measures the rate of appearance of new cases in the group or population, i.e., the number of diseases/spells of disease beginning within a specified period of time related to the total number of persons exposed to risk during that period.1

Bully/victim problems in school: Knowledge base and an effective intervention program

Bully/victim problems among school children are a matter of considerable concern in Scandanavia and, more recently, in a number of other countries as well. Estimates based on the author’s large-scale surveys indicate that some 9% of the students in Grades 1 through 9 are fairly regular victims of bullying and that 6–7% engage in bullying others with some regularity. It is argued that it is a fundamental democratic right for a child to be spared the oppression and repeated humiliation implied in bullying. The author has developed a school based intervention program against bullying, the effects of which were evaulated in 42 schools over a period oftwo years. Analyses indicate that the frequency of bully/victim problems decreased by 50–70%. In addition, the prevalence of antisocial behaviours in general, such as vandalism, theft, drunkenness and truancy showed a substantial drop. The main content ofthe core program, as well as its key principles, are presented. The over-riding goal of the program can be des...

Bullying at school and later criminality: Findings from three Swedish community samples of males

AIM To examine whether being a bully at school predicts later criminality. METHOD Longitudinal, prospective associations are reported between bullying and later criminality over the 8-year period from age 16 to 24. RESULTS Bullying in early adolescence strongly predicted later criminality. The former school bullies were heavily overrepresented in the crime registers. Some 55% of them had been convicted of one or more crimes and as much as 36% had been convicted of at least three crimes in the studied period. Effect sizes in the form of Odds Ratios were substantial for both general crimes and violent crimes, varying between 3.47 and 7.79.

The Importance of Sex-of-Stimulus Object: Age Trends and Sex Differences in Empathic Responsiveness

The main goals of the study were to examine age trends and sex differences in empathic responsiveness, particularly empathic concern for others in distress. It was based on four cohorts of Norwegian students aged 13 to 16, comprising a total of 1193 boys and 1093 girls. The key measurement instrument was a partly new questionnaire on empathic responsiveness in which sets of items were differentiated according to sex-of-stimulus object. The empirical analyses showed convincingly that differentiation of the items with regard to sex-of-stimulus object was of critical importance for the discovery of the age trends that were present for boys and girls. Girls showed the most straightforward development, with an increase over age in empathic concern towards both girl and boy stimuli. The boys evinced a similar developmental pattern with regard to girls as stimuli but showed a clearly deviating, decreasing trend in emphatic concern for other boys in distress. Failure to consider sex-of-stimulus object is probably the main explanation for the inconsistent results previously reported for developmental trends in empathic responsiveness from age 11. In addition, and in agreement with previous research, we found very marked sex differences, with a strong predominance of low-empathic boys and a similarly marked predominance of high-empathic girls. Finally, the empirical analyses indicated the meaningfulness of partly separating out another facet of empathic responsiveness, i.e. empathic distress in which the emotional reaction is assumed to be more oriented toward the self than to the other, while the opposite is true of empathic concern. The results are discussed within an evolutionary perspective.

Assessment of Global Negative Self-Evaluations and Perceived Stability of Self in Norwegian Preadolescents and Adolescents

A special problem in the study of self-esteem is the use of quite different instruments for subjects at different age levels. In the present paper the primary goal was to construct a scale that could be used to assess global self-evaluations in children as well as in adolescents and adults. The scale presented (GSE) based mainly on Rosenbergs Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) was used in this study with 2478 children aged 10 to 15 years. A second goal was to examine the appropriateness of Rosenbergs Stability of Self Scale when used with preadolescents aged 12 to 15. The internal consistency of the new scale (GSE) and of the slightly modified Stability of Self Scale was quite satisfactory (around .80). In addition a principal component analysis showed that the pattern of factor loadings was similar for subjects of different ages, indicating that the items were interpreted and responded to in roughly the same way by fourth through seventh graders. As expected, the GSE Scale correlated quite substantially with self-reports dimensions reflecting social anxiety and frequency of harassment by other students. The results indicate that the GSE Scale is a good unidimensional measure of global self-evaluations that can be used with subjects from age 10 at least and across a considerable age range.