Peer Aggression and Bullying

This chapter introduces the issue of peer aggression in schools and provides theory underlying the research on peer aggression and bullying. The purpose of the Peer Aggression and Well-being (PAWB) study was to look beyond bullying and assess the harm to mental health and well-being of young people experiencing peer aggression in all its forms. In this chapter a new conceptual lens on peer aggression is provided by considering the underlying theoretical dimensions of aggression. The criteria of intentional harm, repetition, and power differential between victim and aggressor, while important aspects of bullying, are not without controversy particularly in how they are measured (or not measured) in current studies of bullying. This chapter discusses these issues and the direction most recently being advocated by researchers for an overhaul of bullying research practices and outlines how this study seeks to begin this process. The aim is to better address the needs of young people feeling unsafe and subject to aggression by peers at school both within as well as outside the bullying realm.