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Abstract
After sketching how my own interest and research into bullying problems began, I address
a number of potentially controversial issues related to the definition and measurement
of such problems. The importance of maintaining the distinctions between bullying
victimization and general victimization and between bullying perpetration and general
aggression is strongly emphasized. There are particular problems with the common method
of peer nominations for purposes of prevalence estimation, comparisons of such estimates
and mean levels across groups and time, and measurement of change. Two large-scale
projects with time series data show that several recent claims about cyber bullying
made in the media and by some researchers are greatly exaggerated and lack scientific
support. Recent meta-analyses of the long-term outcomes for former bullies and victims
provide convincing evidence that being involved in such problems is not just a harmless
and passing school problem but something that has serious adjustment and public health
consequences that also entail great costs to society. Another section presents my
view of why the theme of bullying took quite some time to reach the peer relations
research community in the United States and the role of a dominant research tradition
focusing on "likeability" in this account. In a final section, I summarize some reasons
why it may be considered important and interesting to focus both research and intervention
on bully/victim problems.