Bullying and the peer group: A review

a r t i c l e i n f o It is often stated that bullying is a " group process " , and many researchers and policymakers share the belief that interventions against bullying should be targeted at the peer-group level rather than at individual bullies and victims. There is less insight into what in the group level should be changed and how, as the group processes taking place at the level of the peer clusters or school classes have not been much elaborated. This paper reviews the literature on the group involvement in bullying, thus providing insight into the individuals' motives for participation in bullying, the persistence of bullying, and the adjustment of victims across different peer contexts. Interventions targeting the peer group are briefly discussed and future directions for research on peer processes in bullying are suggested. Bullying is a subtype of aggressive behavior, in which an individual or a group of individuals repeatedly attacks, humiliates, and/or excludes a relatively powerless person. The majority of studies on the topic have been conducted in schools, focusing on bullying among the concept of bullying is used to refer to peer-to-peer bullying among school-aged children and youth, when not otherwise mentioned. It is known that a sizable minority of primary and secondary school students is involved in peer-to-peer bullying either as perpetrators or victims — or as both, being both bullied themselves and harassing others. In WHO's Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey (HBSC, see Craig & Harel, 2004), the average prevalence of victims across the 35 countries involved was 11%, whereas bullies represented another 11%. Children who report both bullying others and being bullied by others (so-called bully–victims) were not identified in the HBSC study, but other studies have shown that approximately 4–6% of the children can be classified as bully–victims (Haynie et al., 2001; Nansel et al., 2001). Bullying constitutes a serious risk for the psychosocial and academic adjustment of both victims