Peer, self and teacher nominations of participant roles taken in victimisation by five- and eight-year-olds

Monks, Claire P. and Smith, Peter K. (2010) Peer, self and teacher nominations of participant roles taken in victimisation by five- and eight-year-olds. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 2 (4). pp. 4-14. ISSN 1759-6599 (print), 2042-8715 (online)

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to develop and assess a method for obtaining peer-, self and teacher-nominations of the participant roles in peer victimisation appropriate for use with children between the ages of five and eight years. Sixty-eight five-year-olds and 69 eight-year-olds and their teachers took part. Peer-nominations (including self-nominations) were obtained from five- and eight-year-olds for participant roles of aggressor, reinforcer, assistant, defender, outsider, passive and provocative victim; and similar nominations from their teachers. At both ages, children were able to nominate for all the roles, and consistent gender differences were found. Test-retest reliability (over an interval of one week) was moderate to high for all roles in eight-year-olds, but only for aggressor and provocative victim, in five-year-olds. There was evidence for role discrimination, but five-year-olds gave similar nominations for aggressor and provocative victim. Within-class pupil agreement was significant for aggressor and provocative victim at both ages, and for passive victim and defender at eight years. Peer- and teacher-ratings showed better agreement with each other than with self-nominations. The findings are discussed in relation to children’s developing abilities to identify and report various roles, as well as developmental changes in the nature of peer-aggression.

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