Citation

Alajbeg A, Kovačević S. Violence Gend. 2019; 6(1): 1-10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/vio.2018.0007

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Peer violence among children continues to rise both in Croatia and around the world, and it represents a serious global problem. Children can be engaged in peer violence in the roles of bullies, victims, active assistants, reinforcers, defenders, and bystanders. The purpose of this article was to examine the role of sociodemographic factors (gender, age, grade, school achievement, mother's and father's education level and income, and socioeconomic status of the family) contributing to different engagement of children in peer violence. A total of 715 seventh- and eighth-grade students, aged between 12 and 15 years, from five regions of the Republic of Croatia participated in this study. A descriptive analysis showed that the majority of children perceived themselves in the role of defenders, then bystanders, victims, reinforcers, active assistants, and fewest perceived themselves in the role of bullies. A correlation analysis showed that bullies, assistants, and bystanders were more often boys, while girls were more often defenders. Both genders were equally victims of peer violence. Seventh-grade students were more inclined to be bullies. A regression analysis conducted for each role showed that different sociodemographic factors predicted different engagement of children in peer violence. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that sociodemographic factors play an important role in different engagement of children in peer violence, which could play a crucial role in developing prevention programs aimed at reducing and preventing peer violence.

Language: en