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Alexis Burns
Professor Morton
UWRIT 1103-066
31 March 2016
Annotated Bibliography: Why is bullying an Epidemic in American Middle Schools?
Craig Ph.D., Wendy, Yossi Harel-Fisch, Haya Fogel-Grinvald, Suzanne Dostaler, Jorn Hetland,
Bruce Simons-Morton, Michal Molcho, Margarida Gaspar de Mato, Mary Overpeck,
Pernille Due, William Pickett, the HBSC Violence & Injuries, Prevention Focus Group,
the HBSC Bullying Writing Group. A Cross-National Profile of Bullying and
Victimization Among Adolescents in 40 Countries. International Journal of Public
Health 54.2 (2009): 216-224. Print. 28 March 2016.
This article compares acts of bullying and victimization based on gender and age in forty
different countries. The study also specifically compares the rates of direct physical, direct
verbal, and indirect bullying by gender and age in six countries. The study targeted eleven,
thirteen, and fifteen year-olds in all forty countries. The authors hypothesize that physical
bullying and victimization will decrease with age and verbal and indirect bullying will increase
(217). The results from this study concluded that bullying and victimization is a universal health
problem that impacts a number of adolescents around the world. In the forty-country survey,
26%, (53, 249 people), reported some type of involvement in bullying. This study was an indepth look at how this problem affects people all around the world.
I felt that this article was a very thoughtful, accurate, and in-depth sample of how
bullying varies around the world. The researchers partnered with SPSS 14 (SPSS Inc., Chicago,
IL) to conduct the research study. This helped the study to be more credible as well as a more

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efficient source. The researchers found that Latvia, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Romania,
Greenland, Ukraine, Russia, and Austria (218) were the top nine countries where bullying was
the most prevalent with both genders. The lowest eight countries that reported bullying based on
both genders were Hungary, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Czech Republic, and
Wales (218). These results were based on surveys recorded, of these, 10.7 % (N = 21,192)
reported bullying others, 12.6% (N = 24,919) reported being bullied and 3.6 % (N = 7,138)
reported being both a bully and a victim of bullying (218).
This source focuses on bullying in forty countries around the world. This goes hand-inhand with my inquiry topic since I am focusing on bullying in American middle schools. I can
use this source to compare other countries with America in terms of bullying and victimization in
middle schools. The source relates to Bullying and Victimization Among Boys and Girls in
Middle School: The Influence of Perceived Family and School Contexts when analyzing the
differences in bullying based on gender in the six countries specified in the survey.

Fleming, Lila C. and Jacobsen, Kathryn H. "Bullying Among Middle-School Students in low and
Middle Income Countries." Health Promotion International. Oxford Journals. 2
November 2009. Print. 22 March 2016.
This article examines the data of the Global School's Student Health Survey. The survey
examines bullying in 19 middle-to-low income countries from around the world. The survey not
only asks about students being bullied but interestingly also included the effects of students
being bullied. The survey concludes that boys tend to report being bullied more than girls as well
as that bullying is significantly lower as adolescents age. This include things like drug usage as
well as mental health issues.

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Bullying Among Middle-School Students in low and Middle Income Countries goal is to
expand the information about bully victimization in low-and middle- income countries that is
available to the public. The authors are both associated with academia through the College of
Health and Human Services at George Mason University. I find this interesting because all of my
other articles are written by people scattered all around the world, this is the only article where
the authors are from the same place. I feel this gives this article an interesting point of view
because the authors are from the same geographical and socioeconomic area. I feel that this
source is extremely credible since the analysis on this paper uses data from 19 countries that
participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) between 2003 ad 2006.
The GSHS was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with
UNICEF< UNESCO< AND UNAIDS< and uses a cross-sectional study design to access selfreported student health and risk behaviors. (74). All of these organizations have very credible
references therefore giving me complete confidence in this source.
I noticed that Fleming and Jacobsen use some of the same background research as the
authors of Impacts of Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying on the Mental Health of Middle
School and High School Student. They both used previous knowledge from studies like Olweus
(2003, Hase et al). This article also ties in with A Cross-National Profile of Bullying and
Victimization Among Adolescents in 40 Countries by taking a look at bullying and victimization
in a number of the same countries. This article helps me look at the differences in American
middle schools compared to other countries around the world to see why bullying is such an
epidemic in America.

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Hase, Craig N.; Simon B. Goldberg, Douglas Smith, Andrew Stuck, and J. Campain. Impacts of
Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying on the Mental Health of Middle School and High
School Students Psychology in the Schools 52.6 (2015): 607-617. Print. 28 March 2016.
The study in this article is centered around the correlation between cyberbullying and
traditional bullying in they way they impact people, are similar, and which one has the most
importance. The authors also wanted to focus on the mental health outcomes associated with
bullying. They found discrepancies in other researchers research based on their findings. Their
study showed that most victims of cyberbullying were also victims of traditional bullying. They
also established that mental health was not as common in victims of cyberbullying as it was with
traditional bullying. Gender could also be seen as a factor in mental health.
Impacts of Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying on the Mental Health of Middle
School and High School Students establishes the previous research on cyberbullying since it
gained considerable media attention. The article starts out by claiming cyberbullying is an
overrated phenomenon (Olweus, 2012, quoted in Hase et al.), going on further to establish
some researchers feel that cyberbullying has a large overlap between victims of traditional and
cyberbullying. (607). Continuing to suggest that online victimization might be better
understood as an extension of in-person bullying (Li, 2007) (607). The authors believe bullying
and victimization negatively affects the mental state of middle school aged adolescents. Yet, I
think this source is credible based on the material covered as well as the publisher.
This article connects the mental health effects with the clear research of what traditional
bullying as well as victimization is based on a concise definition shared with similar values in the
other sources I have cited in this paper. My inquiry topic can be answered by analyzing how
bullying and the mental health involved with it contributes to the on-going epidemic in America.

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Moore, Page Malmsjo, E. Scott Huebner and Kimberly J. Hills. Electronic Bullying and
Victimization and Life Satisfaction in Middle School Students Social Indicators
Research 107.3 (2012): 429-447. Print. 28 March 2016.
This study sampled middle school students in Southeastern United States middle schools.
It focused on the students who reported either participating in bullying or had been bullied. The
interesting thing about their discovery is when the effects of demographic variables were
controlled the amount of bullying that took place. This suggests that electronic bullying and
victimization can be stopped by adjusting the bullys home and academic lives. However, there is
an 85% overlap of bullying at school and online by the same people. Traditional bullies are the
same ones that create the online persona known for victimizing. This information should help us
stop bullying by stopping the child at school in hopes of reinforcing that online as well.
The researchers spent a great deal studying the environmental indicators that tend to
effect an adolescents mindset as well as lifestyle. I can tell the article is factual based on the
sources cited which leads me to believe it is a credible source. It could be seen as biased based
on the fact they believe bullying is a very prominent thing in society. You could also say that
certain factors are more prominent in a bullys home life however those factors dont always
produce a bully.
This source goes well with my inquiry topic as it really dives into the specific life
behaviors that tend to result in a bullys qualities. This particular source goes well with the other
sources. It helps one understand the specific environments that encourage bullies in middle
schools. Since, my inquiry topic deals with why bullying is an epidemic in American middle
schools this article gives me a background for the right conditions.

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Totura, Christine M. Wienke, Carol MacKinnon-Lewis, Ellis L. Gesten, Ray Gadd, Katherine P.
Divine, Sherri Dunham, and Dimitra Kamboukos. Bullying and Victimization Among
Boys and Girls in Middle School: The Influence of Perceived Family and School
Contexts The Journal of Early Adolescence 29.4 (2009): 571-609. Print. 28 March 2016
This study documents the distinct character differences between boys and girls in the
developmental stages which lead to bullying and other psychosocial issues. It analyzes the
changes in behavior that goes hand in hand with the developmental period justifying the number
of boys we see among bullies, although girls are seen as the victims more than boys. It also goes
into detail about the different types of bullying between boys and girls. Boys tend to deal with
more physical bullying like hitting and threatening, while girls deal with more social
manipulation, rumor spreading, and gossip. The study takes into consideration the family and
contextual experiences that go along with the adolescent years making the middle school
environment the perfect recipe for bullying and victimization.
The authors of Bullying and Victimization Among Boys and Girls in Middle School: The
Influence of Perceived Family and School Contexts spent a lot of time doing background
research of pervious studies before conducting their own. The authors made a point to show that
the bulk of previous research has focused on individual characteristics of youth, such as
behavioral or psychological vulnerabilities in predicting victimization or bullying (Schwartz,
Chang, & Farver, 2000; Veenstra et al., 2005). While this research has shed considerable light on
childrens psychosocial functioning and their interactions with their peers, more attention needs
to be paid to the characteristics of the social contexts within which these peer social processes
occur (Bellmore, Witkow, Graham, & Juvonen, 2004) (572). Based on the amount of energy the

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researchers put into this project before, during, and after, I feel this study is very credible and is
not biased. Their knowledge of previous surveys and the subject clearly shows through.
This article studies the family and school environmental context of bullying. This helps
me with my inquiry topic by addressing the factors that go into bullying and victimization in
American home life. It connects with other sources by talking about bullying as well as
addressing all the different social indicators like those indicated in Electronic Bullying and
Victimization and Life Satisfaction in Middle School Students. These two articles complement
each other by addressing that an adolescents environment can change the way they treat and
respect others.