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. 2010 Jan;39(1):1-11.
doi: 10.1007/s10964-008-9355-y. Epub 2008 Oct 24.

Bullying and victimization among adolescents: the role of ethnicity and ethnic composition of school class

Miranda H M Vervoort  1 , Ron H J Scholte, Geertjan Overbeek
Affiliations

Bullying and victimization among adolescents: the role of ethnicity and ethnic composition of school class

Miranda H M Vervoort et al. J Youth Adolesc. 2010 Jan.

Abstract

The present study examined the relationships between ethnicity, peer-reported bullying and victimization, and whether these relationships were moderated by the ethnic composition of the school classes. Participants were 2386 adolescents (mean age: 13 years and 10 months; 51.9% boys) from 117 school classes in the Netherlands. Multilevel analyses showed that, after controlling for the ethnic composition of school class, ethnic minority adolescents were less victimized, but did not differ from the ethnic majority group members on bullying. Victimization was more prevalent in ethnically heterogeneous classes. Furthermore, the results revealed that ethnic minority adolescents bully more in ethnically heterogeneous classes. Our findings suggest that, in order to understand bullying and victimization in schools in ethnically diverse cultures, the ethnic background of adolescents and the ethnic composition of school classes should be taken into account.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Victimization scores of ethnic majority and ethnic minorities boys and girls
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bullying scores of ethnic majority and ethnic minorities adolescents in school classes with different proportions of ethnic minorities
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