PLAYGROUND BEHAVIOR AND PEER INTERACTION PATTERNS OF PRIMARY-SCHOOL BOYS CLASSIFIED AS BULLIES, VICTIMS AND NOT INVOLVED

On the basis of peer nominations, 8-10 year-old boys (N = 71) were classified as bullies, victims or not involved in this type of problem. These children were then observed in the playground in order to investigate what activities the three groups typically engaged in and who they interacted with. The three groups did not differ significantly in terms of their social networks (a measure of how many different children the target interacted with). Bullies tended to be in larger groups than other children. Victims spent significantly less time in rule games than the other two groups, but significantly more time in positive social contact with peers and significantly more time on their own. It is argued that these results can advance our understanding of the development and maintenance of bully/victim status, as well as facilitate schools' attempts to reduce this type of problem.