The primary aim of this study was the development and validation of a new instrument, the School Life Survey, to establish differentiated rates for the different types of bullying and victimization locally. A total of 562 inner-city grade 1 to 8 school children from two schools in Toronto participated with parental consent, in addition to another sample from the pilot study. High whole-school participation rates were achieved. The validity and reliability of the new instrument received extensive investigation, with excellent Pearson test-retest ratings obtained for both the SLS Bullying Scale and the SLS Victimization Scale. The feasibility of the School Life Survey as a non-anonymous tool was tested and confirmed using a balanced experimental design. The availability of norms for the School Life Survey allows it to be used psychometrically to differentiate levels of severity, and to identify bullying and victimization with greater accuracy and confidence. The study reviewed the conceptual and methodological issues in the definition and measurement of bullying and victimization. A number of hypotheses were set up in respect of the gender and age trends, and comparisons were made with the literature’s existing database. The phenomenon of serial bullying, multiple victimization and familial patterns of bullying were discussed in the context of a new nomination procedure for identifying bullies. Limitations of the study were pointed out, along with directions for future research. Implications for effective interventions and the role of the school psychologist in bringing about innovative changes were discussed.

Very little research has been carried out on bullying in infant school children. In this study I interviewed approximately 300 children aged from four to eleven. Three separate waves of interviews were conducted at approximately six-monthly intervals over two academic years; over 200 children were interviewed twice and 110 were interviewed three times. Children were asked questions concerning their experiences of bullying and victimisation, and also questions designed to determine their popularity. They also rated their peers for popularity, bullying and victimisation. Teacher ratings of popularity, and bully and victim status were obtained by questionnaire. Children’s own definitions of the term bullying were obtained. I discuss the implications of these definitions for existing research. Given the lack of consensus concerning the definition of bullying, a non-arbitrary measurement of bullying was derived from principal component analysis (P.C.A.). The same technique was used to obtain measures of victimisation and peer status. In addition, more traditional measures of these topics were investigated. Results using P.C.A. were broadly similar to those using traditional measures. This substantiates the results from studies which use a narrower range of data sources, although the importance of accurately specifying the time-frame was underlined. Results regarding the popularity of bullies and victims were largely independent of the data source; both bullies and victims were found to be less popular than non-bullies and non-victims respectively. A significant proportion of the variance in the popularity variables was related to the discrepancy between the way children see themselves and how others perceive them. Discrepancy may be an indication of low self-esteem; discrepancy was found to correlate significantly with bullying and victimisation. Low self-esteem may be one of several mechanisms which mediate the relationship between peer status and bully or victim status; the possible policy implications are discussed.

Method:  18 adults, aged between 19 and 56 years, completed a set of questionnaires as well as a semi-structured interview examining various aspects of the participants’ social and interpersonal experience: Semi-Structured Interview, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsiveness Scale (Y-BOS), the Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory 3rd Edition (MCMI-III), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ), the Multi-Item Measure of Romantic Attachment (MIMRI). Results:  Evidence of high rates of fearful attachment styles among participants was noted from the RSQ and the MIMRA, as well as significant interpersonal difficulties among half the participants from the IIP was gathered. A pattern of significantly elevated mean scores on a number of dimensions from the MCMI-III (including those related to the ‘dependent personality pattern’ and ‘anxiety disorder’) was recorded. Data from semi-structured interviews provide evidence of high levels of family disturbance, parental mental illness, and parental conflict in the participants’ childhood experience as well as high levels of bullying in school. Discussion:  The discussion examines the significance of these findings and their implications for clinical practice. A tentative interpersonal model is proposed derived from the findings of this study. The findings are considered in relation to the interpersonal model and suggestions are made around changes to this model that allow the impact of certain kinds of experiences on the development of rituals and ruminations to be understood. A number of limitations in the present study relating to sampling procedures, use of specific questionnaires to assess interpersonal functioning and perception are also outlined and recommendations for future lines of research relating to the interpersonal experience of people with OCD put forward.