Citation

Limber S, Breivik K, Smith PK. Int. J. Bullying Prev. 2023; 5(3): 179-180.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s42380-021-00096-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dan Olweus, a founder of research on bullying, died September 29th, 2020, at his home in Bærum, Norway, at the age of 89. He was born April 18th, 1931, in Nässjö, Sweden, and trained in psychology at the University of Stockholm. Olweus obtained his PhD in 1969, studying aggressive behavior among young boys. He moved to Norway and the University of Bergen in 1970, as a Professor of Psychology (until 1995) and Research Professor (1996 to 2010). He worked at the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare from 2010 until 2016. Olweus was affiliated with the Department for Health Promotion and Development at the University of Bergen from 2019 until his death.

In 1970, Olweus conducted what is widely viewed as the first scientific study on bullying, with 900 boys in Solna, Sweden.

FINDINGS were published in his book, Aggression in Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys (1978). In 1982, three adolescents died by suicide in Norway after having been severely bullied. These events, together with Olweus' research, led to the First National Campaign against Bullying in Norway. As part of this effort, Olweus developed an assessment instrument (the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire), and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP).

A seminal study using the OBPP in Bergen schools, from 1983 to 1985, which followed 2500 schoolchildren, demonstrated strong reductions in both being bullied and taking part in bullying others. These findings were featured in Olweus' book Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do (English version, 1993), which has been translated into at least 25 languages.

In 2000, the Norwegian government supported implementation of the OBPP in over 500 schools.

FINDINGS from this effort were also positive, and a follow-up study found continued program effects up to 8 years after original implementation (Olweus et al., 2020).

Language: en