Bullying and Students With Disabilities

Abstract

ArticleThere are several purposes for this article. First, we introduce a special issue on bullying and students with disabilities (SWD). The articles in the special issue are described. Next, a summary of previous bullying research is provided. This summary lays the foundation for the last section that reports the findings from a systematic literature review of bullying prevention and intervention studies involving SWD. Although there is an expanding body of bullying intervention literature in general education settings, there appears to be a dearth of data on the quality of bully prevention and intervention studies specifically for SWD. The systematic literature review examines methodologically rigorous bully prevention and intervention studies for SWD. Finally, a conclusion connecting the findings of the review to the special issue articles is provided. Articles in This Special IssueYell, Katsiyannis, Rose, and Houchins (2016) provided an insightful examination of the legal ramifications of bullying of SWD in school environments. Bullying behaviors in school systems are discussed in relationship to both federal and state legislation and various Dear Colleague Letters released by the Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. The authors provide suggestions for how school systems can identify, investigate, and respond to situations of bullying SWD.Simpson, Rose, and Ellis (2016) offered a pointed correlational examination of gender discrepancies and the influences of disabilities as related to bullying behaviors using survey findings from more than 14,000 sixth-to 12th-grade students. The authors focus on rates of bullying, fighting, relational aggression, victimization, online victimization, and relational victimization. Findings provide information on the relationship between disability status, gender, and grade level. The authors make suggestions for anti-bullying school initiatives.Rose, Simpson, and Preast (2016) examined important psychosocial predictors of bullying involvement across 1,183 adolescent SWD. The authors found that victimization and lower levels of depression with higher levels of hostility predicted bullying and fighting. Other findings suggest that higher levels of depression, hostility, and lower levels of self-esteem predict bully-victim and reactive-victim status. The authors make a compelling case for schools to provide instruction that targets social-emotional skill development. AbstractBullying is a serious issue affecting the psychological, social, and physical well-being of students. Although a substantial amount of bullying research has been conducted with general education students, there is a paucity of experimental prevention or intervention studies specifically focused on students with disabilities. The aim of this article is twofold. First, we introduce a special issue on bullying and students with disabilities. Summaries of recent studies conducted on the bullying and students with disabilities are described. Next, we report the f...

Bully Victimization Among Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Longitudinal Examination of Behavioral Phenotypes

“…While universal anti-bullying programs are now common in schools, most of these programs have not been extensively evaluated to determine whether they can effectively reduce bullying among special needs populations (Hartley et al, 2017). To date, there are two interventions that meet criteria for evidence-based practice (Houchins, Oakes, & Johnson, 2016). Ross and Horner (2014) assessed the effectiveness of integrating simple bullying prevention strategies into existing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports for elementary students.…”

What Do We Know about Bullying in Schoolchildren with Disabilities? A Systematic Review of Recent Work

“…There could be several reasons for this: firstly, providing them with the necessary support to cover their educational needs is given priority, in order to meet academic targets and have a better chance of inclusion [8]; secondly, the fact that there are fewer researchers specialized in bullying in the field of disability [9]; thirdly, the idiosyncratic characteristics of the students' Sustainability 2021, 13, 416 2 of 18 own disabilities, such as the difficulty to describe their own, and others', behavior. This aspect could be the main reason why the research has focused on other areas [10].…”

Traditional Bullying and Discriminatory Bullying Around Special Educational Needs: Psychometric Properties of Two Instruments to Measure It

“…The term bullying has changed dramatically over several centuries, with its meaning defined based on social and historical contexts, and with the contribution of researchers, and community members, both adults and children [4]. Bullying is the systematic abuse of power among peers that causes physical, emotional, social and/or educational harm [5]. Its origin lies on the deliberate and repeated aggressions occurring under a power imbalance between the bully and the victim [6].…”

“…The prevalence of traditional bullying—aggression and/or victimization—of children and adolescents without SEN is between the 30% and 50% [5,17,26]. Nevertheless, students with SEN show a higher prevalence of bullying (between 1 and 1½ times higher) than their peers, which vary following their different cognitive–behavioral, physical, sensory, social, and/or communicative profiles [18,27].…”