The Roles of Ethnicity and School Context in Predicting Children's Victimization by Peers

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence, stability, and contextual correlates of peer victimization in a sample of African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White urban elementary school-age children. A total of 1956 children (40% African-American, 42% Hispanic, and 18% White) attending any 1 of 14 public elementary schools located in one large and one mid-sized Midwestern city participated in this study. Peer ratings of victimization were obtained at two points in time, separated by a 2-year period. Findings revealed that risk for being victimized by peers varied by ethnicity and by school context. Hispanic children had lower victimization scores than did either African-American or White children. These findings, however, were moderated by school context, such that attending ethnically integrated schools was associated with a significantly higher risk of victimization for White children and a slightly lower risk of victimization for African-American children and did not affect the risk of victimization for Hispanic children. In addition, African-American children were less likely than Hispanic and White children to be repeatedly victimized by peers over time. The importance of considering ethnicity and context in explaining peer victimization is discussed and suggestions for preventive interventions and future research are provided.

The impact of classroom aggression on the development of aggressive behavior problems in children

“…For example, recent statistics published by the US Department of Education document that, in the 100 largest public school districts in the United States, 68% of the students are ethnic minority students and 53% qualify for free0reduced lunch~National Center for Education Statistics, 2001!. These statistics, along with the results of this study on the demographic characteristics of children at risk for exposure to high-aggression classrooms, underscore the importance that researchers have given to better understanding the influence of school context and ethnicity on child behavioral development~Garcia Coll et al, 1996;Hanish & Guerra, 2000!.…”

“…Ethnic minority children may be especially vulnerable due to the higher likelihood they face of attending large schools located in areas beset with economic deprivation~Howley et al, 2000!. In addition, because of a number of social stratification variables, including economic disadvantage and discrimination~see Garcia Coll et al, 1996!, African American children, in particular, are more likely than other children to live and attend schools in risky, inner-city neighborhoods, where the risk of victimization by peers is high and where aggressive behavior may be sanctioned by peers as an effective strategy for self-protection and interpersonal conflict resolution~DuRant et al, Hanish & Guerra, 2000;MillerJohnson et al, 2003!. Other than a recent study by Barth and colleagues~2004!, there has been no inquiry into the impact of exposure to high-aggression classrooms on student behavior in the context of other, related school context characteristics, such as school size, student economic disadvantage, and urban location. The extent to which these factors explain common versus unique variance in the development of children's aggressive behavior warrants study.…”

“…create a distal context associated with elevated levels of student aggression and a corresponding high proportion of classrooms containing many aggressive students. Given the documented associations between these school demographics and student demographics~e.g., ethnic minority status; Howley et al, 2000!, it was hypothesized that African American students would be more likely than European American students to attend large, urban schools serving economically disadvantaged students, and correspondingly, would be more likely to be placed in classrooms with many aggressive students~Garcia Coll et al, 1996;Hanish & Guerra, 2000!. We anticipated that, in addition to the distal effects of the school demographics, the classroom context would have a proximal impact on behavioral socialization, such that, even after school demographics were considered, high-aggression classrooms would contribute to increased levels of student aggressive-disruptive behaviors.…”

Preadolescents' understanding and reasoning about asylum seeker peers and friendships

“…Thus, the present results should be treated as suggestive for relevant situational differences. Future studies should examine a whole array of situations and, in doing so, individual and contextual characteristics should be taken into account simultaneously (e.g., Hanish & Guerra, 2000;Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000;Verkuyten & Thijs, 2002). This will allow us to examine which situational characteristics are important as well as the pathways through which situations might influence preadolescents' evaluations and relationships.…”

Peer Victimization and Ethnic-Cultural Peer Victimization: Self-Esteem and School Relations between Different Cultural Groups of Students in Andalusia, Spain // Victimización étnico-cultural entre iguales: autoestima y relaciones en la escuela entre...

“…La mayoría de ellos se han realizado en los EE.UU., llegando a la conclusión de que los diferentes grupos étnico-culturales están involucrados en diferentes tipos de victimización. Así los estudios sobre el acoso muestran diferencias significativas entre los grupos étnico-culturales si se tienen en cuenta las víctimas (Carlyle y Steinman, 2007;Hanish y Guerra, 2000;Sawyer, Bradshaw, y O'Brennan, 2008;Spriggs, Iannotti, Nansel, y Haynie, 2007). Son muy pocos los estudios que no han encontrado diferencias significativas entre los grupos étnico-culturales en la prevalencia de la victimización en las escuelas en los EE.UU.…”