The theoretical and empirical links between bullying behavior and male sexual violence perpetration

Abstract

Bullying experiences and male sexual violence (SV) perpetration are major public health problems, and while extant literature suggests that they may share some developmental correlates, there is no established empirical link between being a perpetrator or victim of bullying and SV perpetration in the literature. Nonetheless, some SV prevention programs in the U.S. include bullying prevention components for elementary and middle-school aged children. Research is needed to test the hypothesized links between bullying experiences and SV perpetration to determine whether bullying prevention programs are likely to prevent SV perpetration. The purpose of this paper is to present results from a review of research on each of these topics and to discuss the potential shared and unique risk and protective factors within a social-ecological framework. The paper concludes with suggested directions for future research.