Do You Like What You See? Self-perceptions of Adolescent Bullies.

ABSTRACT This paper reports an attempt to increase our understanding of adolescents who exhibit bullying behaviour, by focusing on their self-perceptions. The findings, which confirm those in the literature, establish that the typical bully has a relatively positive self-concept in the social domain and in self-esteem. It is proposed that these findings have implications for early preventative approaches to bullying. These may include an awareness of how temperament traits might interact with a child's environment to produce certain behaviours, including a tendency to bully. Parenting programmes may be a suitable vehicle, and it is also posited that parenting styles and basic elements of child development may be included in ante-natal care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]