engleski

Differences between categories of school children according to their peer violence perpetration and victimization status

Peer violence among children and adolescents is a growing problem in both school and out-of- school contexts. According to their experiences with peer violence perpetration and victimization, school children can be categorized into four groups: non- engaged, victims, perpetrators, victims- perpetrators. The aim of this study was to determine whether there exist any differences between those groups in various areas referring to both the child and his/her family and peer environment. The study was conducted with young people aged 11- 17 (N=618 ; 52% boys), who attend higher grades of primary and lower grades of secondary schools in five smaller cities in Croatia. Participants were sorted into groups based on their results on the Questionnaire of peer violence, where both peer violence perpetration and victimization are taken into account. Differences according to their peer violence status were examined in the following variables: socio-demographic data, internalizing and externalizing problems, peer attachment and other indicators of peer relations quality, satisfaction with family relations, and satisfaction with life in general. Results show that 53.9% of school children can be categorized as non-engaged, 17.3% as victims, 12.3% as perpetrators and 16.5% as both victims and perpetrators of peer violence. Analyses of variance showed that these groups differ in a great number of variables, including financial status of the family, various internalizing and externalizing problems, satisfaction with family relations, various aspects of peer relations and attachment and satisfaction with life in general. Results showed that victims- perpetrators are at a highest risk for developing internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as unsatisfactory family relations, while victims show the greatest number of friends-related problems. Perpetrators and non-engaged pupils show the least number of problems in all measured variables, with the exception of perpetrators having high occurrence of externalizing problems. Some significant interactions between gender and classification of pupils in these groups also emerged when it comes to externalizing problems. These results will be discussed in the context of practical implications for the development of prevention programs.

adolescents ; family and peer relations ; internalizing and externalizing problems ; peer violence ; prevention

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