An examination of the characteristics of passive and provocative victims of bullying

Growing awareness of the relationship between school attacks and bullying victimization has hastened anti-bullying policies in many school districts. Many of the most popular policies, such as peer mediation and zero tolerance fail to address the interpersonal dynamics of passive victims, provocative victims, bullies, and bystanders. This study used pre-existing data to investigate the unique characteristics of the larger social group. Of the 9,588 survey respondents, 13.1% self-reported as bullies, 22.7% as passive victims, 15.0% as provocative victims, and 49.2% as bystanders. Provocative victims reported significantly greater poly-victimization than passive victims (x²(8)=78.7, p<.001). Bullies (22.2%) reported significantly greater dislike for school than provocative victims (19.6%), passive victims (17.1%), and bystanders (14.0%) (x²(18)=266.6, p<.001). Bullies (90.2%) and bystanders (91.3%) reported more social connections with peers than passive victims (83.2%) and provocative victims (82.7%) (x²(15)=235.3, p<.001). Bullies and bystanders showed similarly low empathy levels, suggesting the need for interventions in both groups. Results suggest the application of learning theory as a way to improve school climate. Rather than using zero tolerance, which tends to be punitive, exclusionary and intolerant, adults should use bullying incidents as a teachable moment to teach children about empathy and social justice.