Understanding the problem of school violence: predictive factors of bullying and victimization

With the recent surge in school violence, academics have been motivated to investigate factors that influence this tragic phenomenon. Parents, teachers, and other professionals have made broad generalizations as to why children act so maliciously, and some of the research confirms these common sense notions. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the literature and scrutinize its validity. The current paper examines research addressing predictive factors of both bullying and victimization. Results have shown that access to guns, parenting style, parental involvement, social networks, delinquency, social isolation, and prosocial behavior all are associated with bullying behavior. Similarly, victimization is related to poor parent-child interactions, peer rejection, poor social networks, unsafe schools, and depression