This book posits that multiple perspectives of key school staff (such as teachers, principals, school resource officers, school psychologists and counselors, nurses, and coaches) can provide a deeper understanding of bullying, which remains an immediate and pressing concern in schools today. In turn, the authors suggest how this understanding can lead to the development of more effective prevention and intervention programs. Most texts on this subject have been limited to student and teacher perspectives. By adopting a more comprehensive approach, the authors explore how to combat bullying by drawing from sorely underutilized resources.

This book focuses beyond the bully-victim dyad to highlight how bullying commonly unfolds within a complex system that involves many individuals interacting with one another. As the vast majority of bullying episodes occur in front of a peer audience, this book examines the ways in which bystanders can act to either fuel or deter bullying. Each chapter highlights a particular participant role: bully, assistant, reinforcer, outsider, defender, and victim. Attention is also devoted to the important influence parents and teachers have on the peer ecology and bullying dynamics. By viewing bullying through the eyes of each individual role, the authors provide an in-depth exploration of bullying as a group process with special attention to implications for prevention and intervention. This book refreshes and expands our understanding of bullying as a group process by highlighting classic research while integrating new findings with attention to changing technology and the modernization of our society. It provides a unique resource that will appeal to teachers and educational psychologists in addition to researchers in the areas of psychology, public health, and education.