Effects of Bullying among Children and Adults
Jose Vargas
PSY325
Prof. Mar Navarro
Submitted 5/7/2012

Currently, bullying is a large problem in schools which causes significant stresses to its victims (Voss & Mulligan, 2000). Bullying became a greater concern for school personnel, parents & research after a series of school shootings in the late 1990s, including Columbine (Seals & Young, 2003). The effects of bullying are seen over a long period of time in the lives of participants and can lead to antisocial behavior amongst both perpetrators and victims of bullying (Voss & Mulligan, 2000; Seals & Young, 2003.) This paper intends to conduct an overview on the effects that bullying has on its victims, both adult and child and which group is more or less likely to become bullied. It is also important to examine how the effects of bullying differ by age, gender, ethnicity and other factors that lower social status which predispose people to bullying. This paper proposes that bullying impacts groups differently and thus the symptomatology that results will differ, with those who are socially disadvantaged experiencing the greatest impact of bullying on their lives. Bullying should also show strong outcomes for negative social adjustment in its aftermath, including increased depression, stress, alcohol abuse and decreased self-esteem.
Bullying is defined as repeated aggressive behavior which is intended to harm or disturb a person in which the conflict is assymetrical and one group is more powerful than the other (Nansel et. al., 2001). While bullying is primarily thought of as being something that is done in school, it also commonly occurs in the workplace (Quine, 1999). The definition for adult bullying appears to be similar; both consist of persistent aggressive behavior that causes harm. However, in the work setting, bullying can occur