Client: Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice
Year: 2007

The purpose of this research grant is to use data from the 2007 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine the self-protective behaviors exhibited by victims of bullying. Specific protective behaviors include self-reported weapon carrying, fighting, avoidance behaviors, and truancy. Employing a little utilized analysis technique called rare events analysis, AIR is exploring the proposition that, controlling for relevant student and school characteristics, victims of bullying are more likely to adopt self-protective behaviors that further endanger school safety and school climate. In addition, the adoption of these behaviors is being examined by the type of bullying, direct or indirect, endured by the victim. Policy implications from this work are promising in that, if a relationship is found between lower-level victimization, such as bullying, and more serious behaviors that endanger students and schools, targeted programmatic efforts toward bullying prevention might play a more vital role in school violence prevention than previously thought.