Bullying, School Violence, and Climate in Evolving Contexts

This important and ground-breaking volume builds substantially on the previous book by the same authors from 2005. It provides authoritative coverage of school violence and bullying, now including cyberbullying. Whereas most previous research has focused on individual factors, this volume brings school and community factors into the spotlight. It also gives important consideration to culture and historical change in what amounts to a uniquely comprehensive perspective. The future research and policy recommendations are well argued and forceful-the book is vital reading for those wishing to make schools safe and happy places. -Peter K. Smith, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London Bullying, School Violence, and Climate in Evolving Contexts provides conceptual coherence to a voluminous literature focused on school violence, its correlates, and consequences. This conceptual--which has both significant breadth and depth-is a significant contribution. Yet, the authors go further to actualize a contextually sensitive model of school violence using rich data sources and a rigorous analytic approach. Their attention to the central roles of schools conditioned by dynamic factors at district-, community-, and country-levels elaborates the multiple and overlapping forces shaping various indicators of student victimization. The clarity of the narrative belies the complexity of producing such a layered account of school violence. -Susan Stone, PhD, Professor; Catherine Mary and Eileen Clare Hutto Chair for Social Services in Public Education, School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley The authors have given us a tour de force analysis of school climate. They systematically analyze key problems in the study of bullying, cyberbullying, sexual victimization, and teacher aggression, among other topics, and in each chapter identify conceptual and methodological problems and propose new directions for research and practice. They bolster their arguments with compelling examples and empirical evidence from their many years of international research. They argue thoughtfully and persuasively for broadening our conception of bullying and peer aggression, raising cogent points that should influence all future research in this field. The book is a cornucopia of ideas that every researcher of peer aggression and school climate will find invaluable. This work will inspire new directions in school climate research. - Dewey G. Cornell, PhD, Bunker Professor of Education; Director, Virginia Youth Violence Project, Curry School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia