In Review Consequences of Bullying in Schools

The movement to counter bullying owes much of its impetus to claims that being repeatedly bullied can have serious consequences for the health and well-being of victims. These claims date from the 19th century at least, when public debate following the publication of Tom Brown’s School Days focused on the harmful effects of bullying in English public schools (1). However, there was little systematic research to examine such claims until Professor Dan Olweus’ series of 1970s studies on the nature and effects of bullying in Scandinavian schools (2). Since then, numerous studies of the shortand long-term consequences of school bullying have been carried out in many parts of the world. Although they have mainly focused on the effects on bullying’s victims, they have also given some attention to the possible social consequences for those who bully others and also to the possible consequences of being involved in bully–victim problems as both bully and victim.