Research questions

The proposed study will be guided by the following research questions:

What is the effect of bullying on academic achievement?

What is the effect of bullying on the emotional stability of the victim?

What is the effect of current prevention and intervention programs on bullying behavior?

Literature Review

Introduction

The purpose of this literature review was to develop the background and statistical information required to help answer the above-stated research questions. The focus of the literature review will relate first to the general aspects of the problem under consideration, followed by an increasingly specific focus on the problem as at relates to the faculty and students at Arthur County Schools in Arthur, Nebraska. In this regard, Gratton and Jones (2003) emphasize that a critical review of the timely literature is an essential task in all types of research projects: "No matter how original you think the research question may be, it is almost certain that your work will be building on the work of others. It is here that the review of such existing work is important" (p. 51). For this purpose, the literature review will provide the background to the research because it is important to demonstrate a clear understanding of the relevant theories and concepts, the results of past research into the area, the types of methodologies and research designs employed in such research, and areas where the current body of scholarly knowledge is lacking (Gratton & Jones, 2003). According to Wood and Ellis (2003), the following are some of the important outcomes of a well conducted literature review:

It helps describe a topic of interest and refine either research questions or directions in which to look;

It presents a clear description and evaluation of the theories and concepts that have informed research into the topic of interest;

It clarifies the relationship to previous research and highlights where new research may contribute by identifying research possibilities which have been overlooked so far in the literature;

It provides insights into the topic of interest that are both methodological and substantive;

It demonstrates powers of critical analysis by, for...

A summary of the literature review concludes this section.
Review of literature

Many students are not experiencing safe environments. The sense of safety for many children is being threatened by the bully/victim dyad. Research on bullying has come to the forefront with national media coverage of violent incidences in schools. It is the purpose of this literature review to investigate prior research and information that has been accumulated concerning victimization and bully prevention programs. The focus is on the victim regarding emotional stability and academic achievement as well as looking at the effectiveness of present bully prevention programs within the United States.

There are different degrees and types of bullying, and all of them can have an adverse effect on academic achievement. "Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior with an imbalance of power; the dominant person(s) intentionally and repeatedly causes distress by tormenting or harassing another less dominant person(s)" (Atlas & Pepler, 1998, p.86).

Students can become the victim of direct bullying, a term that describes open attacks on the victim (i.e., kicking, pushing, hitting, teasing, taunting, mocking, threatening and intimidating); by contrast, indirect bullying describes behaviors that promote the social isolation, ostracism, or exclusion of the intended victim, as well as rumors and gossip: "Indirect bullying involves manipulating the social status of an individual within his or her peer group by changing the way others perceive and respond to the individual" (Atlas & Pepler, 1998. p.86). Not surprisingly, then, students that become victims of bullying in school are not able to freely pursue their academic goals compared