Bullying and Victimization among Students in Special Education and General Education Curricula

Abstract

International research established over a decade ago that students who are en-rolled in special education curricula are victimized and perpetrate more bullying than their general education peers. However, few empirical studies have exam-ined bullying rates among American schoolchildren who receive special education services. In the current study, a sample of middle school students (n = 1009) enrolled in general and special education programs completed the Univer-sity of Illinois bullying, fighting, and victimization scales. As hypothesized, students with disabilities reported higher rates of victimization and fighting be-haviours than students without disabilities. Conversely, students with disabilities and their general education peers reported similar rates of bully perpetration.