Abstract
Peer aggression toward peers who are perceived as weaker or different is a widespread problem for middle-school students including those attending Catholic middle schools. Middle school students’ normative beliefs about the acceptability of various types of aggressive behavior influences their own potential involvement in bullying or as bystanders to bullying in school environments. This study examined decision-making preferences of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls and boys for how they thought a targeted peer (from a vulnerable group) should handle a situation of physical, verbal, or cyber aggression. Significant gender, grade and type of peer aggression effects were found for the decision making of the middle schoolers, carrying important implications for the design of future school-based bullying prevention programs.
DOI
10.15365/joce.2501062022
First Page
133
Last Page
151
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Khemka, I., Hickson, L., & Gilic, L. (2022). Views of Catholic Middle School Students on Handling Peer Aggression. Journal of Catholic Education. https://doi.org/10.15365/joce.2501062022
CatholicEdJrnl
