Causes of bullying – Term Paper

In a relatable study, Stone and Carlisle (2015) link racial bullying to substance abuse. From a general perspective, each race tends to behave differently when the aspect of drug abuse is correlated with the notion of being a bully. Unlike Wang (2013) who concentrates on a myriad of social factors to justify racial bullying, Stone and Carlisle (2015) concentrate on drug abuse, which is a viable factor that can be linked with the aggressive nature of bullies. Common understanding is that no good outcome is ever linked with rampant drug abuse. In fact, the majority of drug abusers easily display aggressive behaviors, an aspect that makes it easy to link substance abuse with bullies. Within their study, the two scholars use data from Health Behaviors in School-Aged Children with the number of student responses being 7,585. From a general categorization, Stone and Carlisle (2015) indicate that bullies were most likely to use cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. The victim-perpetrator category also exhibits the same positive drug use correlation. Narrowing down to the disposition of each race, Stone and Carlisle (2015) show that non-Hispanic whites and Hispanic students showed symptoms of increased drug abuse if they belonged to the category of bullies or bully-victim. Significantly, African Americans were more likely to use alcohol and marijuana as opposed to cigarettes when they were in the perpetrator category. While the drug choice for each ethnicity category varies as shown by Stone and Carlisle (2015), the overall observation is that drug abuse by students from 7th to 10th grades fuels activities of bullying. 

The causes of bullying behavior essay

Based on the scholarly analyses presented above, bullying others is ethnically motivated. In the comprehensive coverage by Wang (2013), the revelation is that each ethnic category occupies a different position when it comes to bullying others. For instance, while the multiracial students reported being victimized, they are also the leading ethnic category in bullying others. However, unlike other straight bullies, multicultural students tend to be under the category of bully-victim. Bully-victim is one of the emerging categories situationally created by the incompetence exhibited by school administrations and parents. For students under the bully-victim category, one has to be a victim first before transforming into a hardcore bully. This often happens for the students who have no hope that the school administration will intervene. Besides, multicultural students, African Americans students are also highly rated as bullies because of social factors such as lack of friends or school dissatisfaction. Evidence against these two ethnic categories does not mean that others are involved. The lack of standard results in bullying surveys is the reason why scholars make varying conclusions that implicate each ethnic group differently. Evidence against other ethnic categories may not be available, but the prevailing notion is that bullying others is racially/ethnically motivated, despite there being other factors behind it.

Bullying by ethnicity

Ethnicity/race is correlated with being a bully or on the receiving end of bullying. After a comprehensive analysis of the issue at hand, it is inevitable to deny the fact that racial differences motivate bullying in a typical school setting. Within both scenarios, either being bullied or being a bully, the unique role played by minority groups is implicated. Having established a link between bullying and ethnicity, one can easily conclude that the minorities are on the receiving end, but as it turns out, they are at the both ends. As victims of bullying, minority groups such as Native Americans among others tend to be victimized through emotional and psychological tortures. This is one of the aspects that justify that high dropout rate of Indian American and African American students. Asian American students who are stereotyped to bright are less likely to experience bullying or bully others. Multicultural students, same as African American students are reported to be the highest victims of bullying, but significantly, they are also the leading perpetrators of bullying. While the predicament of each ethnic category can vary because of the inconsistency in bullying statistics used by researchers, the significant implication is that bullying in schools correlates to ethnic/racial differences.

References

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Davis, Stan and Charisse Nixon. 2010. “Preliminary results from the youth voice research project: victimization & strategies.” http://njbullying.org/documents/YVPMarch2010.pdf

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Spriggs, Aubrey L., et al. 2007. “Adolescent bullying involvement and perceived family, peer and school relations: Commonalities and differences across race/ethnicity.” Journal of Adolescent Health 41(3): 283-293.

Stone, Andrea L., and Shauna K. Carlisle. 2015 “Racial bullying and adolescent substance use: an examination of school-attending young adolescents in the United States.” Journal of ethnicity in substance abuse 1-20.

Wang, Weijun. 2013. “Bullying among US school children: An examination of race/ethnicity and school-level variables on bullying.” Diss. CLEMSON UNIVERSITY, 2013. http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2204&context=all_dissertations