A Gender Perspective on Bullying: Findings from a National Survey

perceived power imbalance between perpetrators and victims (Olweus, 1996), represents a global problem and a fundamental violation of human rights (Greene, 2006). UNESCO (2019) estimates that one in three students is a victim of bullying. The incidence of this phenomenon underscores the importance of continuing to study modes of expression and strategies for counteraction. While male bullying has been extensively researched, female bullying has received less attention, perhaps because it is less visible and, in some aspects, more complex than male bul- lying, involving articulated, cross-sectional, and multi-dimensional interactions (De Vita, 2021; De Vita & Burgio, 2023). Emphasizing the need to avoid rigid dichotomies, research suggests that bullying is predominantly an intra- gender phenomenon and that female and male bullying may manifest differently. In order to better understand the gender dynamics underlying bullying and to deepen the understanding of female bullying, a national project in- volving multidisciplinary research units from six Italian universities was carried out. The research had three main goals: to achieve a deeper understanding of female bullying; to investigate the incidence of female bullying com- pared to male bullying in terms of frequency and intensity in Italy; to develop counteraction and prevention devices in the involved schools and to launch an awareness campaign. To achieve these goals, a mixed-method research design was adopted. The purpose of this contribution is to present the results of the quantitative study regarding the assessment of the extent and characteristics of bullying in the national territory and the exploration of possible gender differences in the interpretation of the phenomenon. The target population consisted of students attending the first two classes of upper secondary school in the cities of Arezzo, Foggia, Palermo, Perugia, and Verona, cho- sen as sample cities. To achieve the objectives of the quantitative part of the research, the “Bullying Survey” ques- tionnaire (Swearer, 2001) was used. The survey involved 2,481 respondents (Batini et al., 2023). The results show an incidence of the phenomenon of 8.4% (6.1% for boys and 9.6% for girls), if only frequent acts of bullying are considered, and 45.3% (44.6% for boys and 45.7% for girls) if occasional acts are also included. These findings confirm what has been reported in the literature, namely that bullying: 1) mainly takes place in the classroom and online; 2) materializes within the peer group (girls/boys of the same school year); 3) is predominantly an intra-gen- der phenomenon; 4) is most commonly manifested in relational spaces and verbally. Furthermore, gender-specific data analysis revealed multiple gender differences, including forms of bullying with a more prevalent verbal-rela- tional mode in girls and “pranking” as a typical mode only among boys. The study provides an important contri- bution to bullying research, confirming the relevance of the phenomenon and highlighting the unique perspective of girls. In conclusion, the adoption of a gender perspective in the study of bullying has proven useful for a better understanding of the phenomenon, especially in terms of implementing effective prevention and counteraction interventions.