The characteristics that make girls more susceptible to bullying

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain an awareness of the behavioural characteristics, physical mannerisms and relational techniques exhibited by young adolescent girls in South Africa who may be susceptible to, or have been traumatised by being bullied. A literature study and an empirical investigation were conducted to establish whether victims of bullying have distinct personality traits, as well as to determine if specific parenting styles affect the vulnerability of their adolescent daughters. The effectiveness of bullying prevention strategies in adolescent relationships was also explored. A questionnaire was developed to ascertain how adolescents perceive victims of bullying. Eight semi-structured interviews using photographs and a cartoon as projective techniques were conducted with victims to gather data and to enrich the findings. This study has demonstrated that international research about victimisation is pertinent to South African children.