Double trouble: The developmental process of school bully-victims

Bully-victims suffer from the negative results of both bullying and victimization experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore the developmental process of bully-victims from the perspectives of both bully-victims and school teachers. For this study, 10 secondary school bully-victims and 21 teachers were invited to participate in individual interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed via the grounded theory. The results indicated that three phases can be identified: the single role, in which most bully-victims are initially victims and few are initially bullies; the dual role, in which bully-victims either continually attack more vulnerable targets or retaliate against their original bullies because of their continued victimization and incitement from family members and/or peers; and reversal and termination of the dual role, in which bully-victims terminate their bullying and/or victimization situation after certain factors emerge, such as empathic arousal, positive interventions from peers and/or adults, and factors relevant to the original bullies. The results of this study suggested that teachers and parents should closely monitor the developmental process of bully-victims to provide them with suitable interventions.