Transcending Beyond the Schoolyard
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 Transcending Beyond the Schoolyard: A Multilevel Examination of the Environmental Influences and Prevalence of Traditional and Cyber Bullying Perpetration Karla Johanna Dhungana Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE TRANSCENDING BEYOND THE SCHOOLYARD: A MULTILEVEL EXAMINATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES AND PREVALENCE OF TRADITIONAL AND CYBER BULLYING PERPETRATION By KARLA JOHANNA DHUNGANA A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2012 Karla Dhungana defended this dissertation on June, 26, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Brian Stults Professor Directing Dissertation Martell Teasley University Representative Eric Stewart Committee Member Sonja Sienneck Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To the original Dr. Dhungana: For as long as I can remember, I’ve aspired to be like you. For being my first and (to this day) biggest source of inspiration, I am in your debt. Thank you for paving the way, Daddy; I love you and I hope I have made you proud. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While works like this may seem like a solitary undertaking, I recognize that it took a small army of amazing and gracious cheerleaders to get me to this culmination of my graduate career. My sincerest gratitude is due to my major professor and committee chair, Dr. Brian Stults, for his commitment to the study from its conception and his un-wavering faith and support throughout. My appreciation also goes out to my dissertation committee members, Dr. Eric Stewart, Dr. Sonja Sienneck and Dr. Martell Teasley for helping shape this study and getting it to the final product. Mom and Dad, thank you for giving me the blessing of roots; for letting me chase my dreams but never letting me lose sight of the road that leads back home. My dear brothers, Rajan dai and Carlo, you’ve watched me grow and shared in nostalgic childhood memories, my everyday adventures and now the fulfillment of my grown-up dreams. Thank you for always believing in your baby sister. To my lifetime friends, who are like family – Anjali, Kat, Lori, Christina, Sweta, Pranita, Monica, Meenal, Elina, and Meredith – thank you for our beautiful friendship and for pushing me through some of my toughest days during this process. And finally, to Saugar – thank you a thousand times over. This process brought out the best (and the worst) of me; thank you for being my voice of reason, my constant source of motivation and for believing in me when I needed it most. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................................vii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... viii Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ix 1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 2. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 5 2.1. Defining Bullying ........................................................................................................ 6 2.1.1. Physical Bullying ............................................................................................... 7 2.1.2. Verbal Bullying ................................................................................................ 10 2.1.3. Cyber Bullying ................................................................................................. 11 2.2. Who are the Bully and the Bully Victim? ................................................................... 15 2.2.1. The Bully ......................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2. The Bully Victim ............................................................................................. 18 2.3. Theoretical Considerations......................................................................................... 22 2.3.1. Control Theory ................................................................................................. 22 2.3.2. Social Disorganization Theory ......................................................................... 25 2.3.3. Additional Theoretical Considerations.............................................................. 28 2.3.4. Demographic Characteristics ............................................................................ 29 3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY............................................................. 31 3.1. Data Sources ............................................................................................................. 31 3.2. Measures .................................................................................................................. 33 3.2.1. Outcome Variables .......................................................................................... 33 3.2.2. Predictor Variables .......................................................................................... 34 3.2.3. Individual-Level Predictors ............................................................................. 34 3.2.4. School-Level Predictors .................................................................................. 36 3.2.5. School District Level Predictors ...................................................................... 36 3.3. Analytic Methods ..................................................................................................... 38 4. DISCUSSION & RESULTS: PREVALENCE & COMPARISON OF MEANS .............. 42 4.1. Prevalence ................................................................................................................ 42 4.1.1. Bullying Perpetration ...................................................................................... 42 4.1.2. Bullying Victimization .................................................................................... 43 4.2. Bullying Location ..................................................................................................... 45 4.3. Comparison of Bullying Experiences across Groups ................................................ 47 4.3.1. Gender ........................................................................................................... 47 4.3.2. Grade Level ................................................................................................... 50 4.3.3. Ethnicity ......................................................................................................... 52 4.4. Summary of Bullying Prevalence .............................................................................. 54 5. DISCUSSION & RESULTS: MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS ............................................ 56 5.1. Verbal Bullying ........................................................................................................ 57 v 5.2. Physical Bullying ..................................................................................................... 61 5.3. Cyber Bullying ........................................................................................................ 65 5.4. Supplementary Analysis of Indirect Effects ............................................................. 67 5.5. Discussion ............................................................................................................... 69 6. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 77 6.1. Policy Implications .................................................................................................. 80 6.2. Limitations .............................................................................................................. 83 6.3. Directions for Future Research ................................................................................. 85 APPENDICES A. List of Variables and Scales ....................................................................................... 88 B. Correlation Matrix of Dependent and Independent Variables ..................................... 91 C. Florida State University Human Subject Committee Approval ................................... 93 D. Department of Children and Families Data Approval Letter ....................................... 95 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 97 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .................................................................................................. 113 vi LIST OF TABLES 3.1 Demographic Characteristics ............................................................................................. 33 3.2 Descriptives of Outcome, Level-1, Level-2 and Level-3 Variables .................................... 37 5.1 Hierarchical Linear Model ANOVA for Verbal