WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF PEER VIOLENCE?

Peer violence is a very current problem in schools. There are plenty of studies on the characteristics of perpetrators, while the characteristics of victims have been explored much less frequently. This research was aimed at determining the factors from the domain of upbringing and socio-demographic characteristics of the victims that contribute to the exposure to peer violence. The total sample comprised 504 primary school students. In order to determine the effect of victimological factors, hierarchical regression analysis was performed. The data obtained by the Questionnaire measuring the manifestation forms and frequency of peer violence were processed by factor analysis, which yielded the following three factors of exposure to peer violence: direct, manipulative and social. Factor scores on these factors were used as criterion variables. In the first step, the variable of gender was entered into the regression, the second set included three socio-demographic variables, and the third set of variables comprised parental upbringing styles and violent behaviour in the family. The cold upbringing style of the mother was identified as an important predictor for the exposure to direct peer violence; for the exposure to manipulative peer violence -the cold upbringing attitude of the father and mother; and for the exposure to social peer violence -gender (female) and the cold upbringing attitude of the father. The results are discussed in the context of pedagogical implications of the research, i. e. the guidelines for designing prevention programmes in schools focused on enhancing parental educational competences and students' social skills.