The Complex Social Experience of Bullying in a Predominately Latino School through the Eyes of Students, Teachers, and Parents: A Case Study

Scholarly peer-reviewed bullying literature has delineated the definitions of bullying, its prevalence, effects, characteristics, trends and interventions put in place for students who experience bullying at the hands of others. Research assessing the bullying experience of students has only been identified through white students and students from foreign countries. Bullying literature identifies minority students and those who live in urban communities to be at an increased risk for becoming a bully (Bradshaw & Waasdorp, 2009; Wang, Iannotti, & Luk, 2012; Peskin, Tortolero & Markham, 2006; Goldweber, Waasdorp, & Bradshaw, 2013; Malecki, Demoray, & Davidson, 2008). Research into the phenomenon of bullying has not, however, explored the experience of Latino urban youth in the United States. A systematic intrinsic case study was conducted to assess: 1: What factors contribute to bullying in an urban Latino school? 2. How does the experience of students at this school compare with experiences documented in the literature about bullying? Results suggest the experiences of the Latino students in this case study are similar to the patterns documented in research on bullying within the general population. Specifically for this Latino school, inconsistent use of interventions and policies were found to contribute to bullying in the school under study.