Special Topic: Bullying Research From a Social-Ecological Perspective
Bullying and Discrimination in Schools: Exploring Variations Across Student Subgroups
Susan Swearer
Bullying Research Network, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Shelley Hymel
Bullying Research Network, University of British Columbia
Correspondence regarding this article should be directed to either Susan M. Swearer Ph.D., Professor of School Psychology, 40 Teachers College Hall, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, ; e-mail: ; or Shelley Hymel, Ph.D. Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4; e-mail: .
Susan M. Swearer Ph.D, is the Willa Cather Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her research has examined the relationship between internalizing and externalizing psychopathology and involvement in bullying and peer victimization. Current research is examining the effectiveness of an individualized, cognitive-behavioral intervention for bully perpetrators.
Shelley Hymel, Ph.D., holds the Edith Lando Professorship in Social and Emotional Learning and is a Professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education at the University of British Columbia. She has studied human social development for over 30 years, with a focus on social-emotional learning in educational settings. Dr. Hymel works regularly with schools on issues of bullying, and has directed summer camps and classroom programs to facilitate social growth.
Guest Editor: Chad A. Rose
This commentary reviews the four articles included in a special issue of the School Psychology Review that address factors related to the bullying and discrimination among youth. The articles explore rather diverse topics within the broader literature on youth interpersonal violence, but each adds to our understanding of the very complex nature of bullying involvement. In an attempt to understand this complexity, we view these studies through the lens of a social-ecological diathesis-stress model (Swearer & Hymel, 2015), considering the individual, family, peer, school community, and societal contexts in which youth interpersonal violence occurs, and how biological and cognitive vulnerabilities interact with stressors like peer victimization to understanding the mechanisms at play in any particular incident of interpersonal violence. Together, the studies presented in this special issue contribute to our understanding of this complexity, reminding us that peers matter; educational placement matters; individual differences in race, sexual orientation, and disabilities matter; and measurement matters. It is perhaps this complexity that limits the effectiveness of current universal strategies for addressing such behaviors in school, but paves the way for more effective, multidimensional prevention and intervention efforts.
Received: November 16, 2015; Accepted: November 16, 2015;
Copyright 2015 by the National Association of School Psychologists
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