Bullying is a form of aggression and coercion that often produces very adverse affects on the person who falls victim to this abuse. In particular, one can mention the increased risk of suicide. The paper will discuss the studies that examine this issue. For example, the research article written by Anat Klomek et al (2011) discusses the influence of being bullied in high school on later behavior of a person, especially depression and suicidal tendencies. The study included 236 people who were screened for suicide tendencies in high-school (Klomek et al, 2011, p. 501).
The researchers surveyed these students four years after the screening (Klomek et al, 2011, p. 501). While surveying the respondents, the researchers used such tools as Beck Depression Inventory and Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire. The responses were later codified and analyzed with the help chi-square and t-tests. The results indicated that those people, who experienced bullying, were more likely to think about suicide and suffer from depression (Klomek et al, 2011, p. 511). Although, the risk tended to decrease with time passing, such people could confront other problems, such as substance abuse.
This research shows that bullying can be a very victimizing experience in those cases when a person already suffers from depression. The main limitation of this research is that the scholars surveyed the victims more often. Furthermore, they did not determine how different types of bullying affect a person’s attitude toward suicide (Klomek et al, 2011, p. 513). Nevertheless, this research eloquently illustrates the necessity to detect bullying at early stages and avert the victimization of students. Thus, people, who conduct suicide screening, should be aware of bullying because it can be a very powerful factor that contributes to suicide.
Psychologists begin to pay more attention to a relatively new form of peer aggression, namely cyberbullying. In the study Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin (2010) try to determine whether cyberbullying can be related to suicidal tendencies. The scholars surveyed 1963 students from middle school. The questions were related to various forms of peer harassment that can be done with the help of online technologies (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010, p. 213).
Furthermore, the respondents had to answer specific questions about their attitude toward suicide and possible attempts if there were any. The authors used descriptive statistics in order to analyze the relation between cyberbullying and suicidal ideation. On the whole, the findings of this study are quite disturbing. The thing is that those students, who were bullied in school and on the Internet were twice more likely to think about suicide or even attempt it (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010, p. 216). The victims of cyberbullying also had a tendency to be depressed and contemplate suicide.
The main limitation of this research is that the data were collected only at one point in time. Thus, it was impossible to determine how the attitudes of respondents changed. This is why the authors admit that they will also need to conduct a longitudinal study to better examine this question. Nevertheless, this research can have significant implications for parents and teachers. They should be aware of the fact that online communication can expose their children to danger. In some cases, it may be necessary to limit their access to Internet. Furthermore, educators should prevent any kind of bullying at school. These are the main implications of this study.
Reference List
Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2010). Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide. Archives Of Suicide Research, 14(3), 206-221.
Klomek, A., Kleinman, M., Altschuler, E., Marrocco, F., Amakawa, L., & Gould, M.
(2011). High school bullying as a risk for later depression and suicidality. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 41(5), 501-516.