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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the basic factors of age and gender in homophobic bullying behaviour, in order that recommendations for the design of anti-bullying programmes specific to homophobic bullying could be made.

In total, 475 fifth year students (ca. 16-17 years old) and 561-second year students (ca. 13-14 years old) at six secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland completed an English-language translation of a questionnaire previously used in a Norwegian study of sexual orientation and bullying behaviour (Roland and Auestad, 2009).

No evidence of “age-related declines” were found in reports of either bullying or homophobic bullying. Males were significantly more likely than females to report involvement (as both perpetrators and targets) in both bullying and homophobic bullying.

It was concluded that senior secondary school students, as well as their younger counterparts, should be involved in anti-bullying interventions; that males should be especially focused upon; and that programmes specific to anti-homophobic bullying, potentially targeting pre-adolescent students, should be supported.

This paper suggests evidence-based priorities for intervention programmes specific to homophobic bullying, accounts of which have been, to date, absent in the research literature.

This paper describes findings from recent research in the UK on one particular type of bullying, that linked to sexuality and the assumed sexual orientation of the victim ‐ namely homophobic bullying. A survey involving 307 secondary schools throughout England and Wales showed that awareness of general bullying among school staff was almost universal. Most respondents also knew of homophobic verbal bullying, and over one in four were aware of homophobic physical bullying. Existing school policies on bullying and confidentiality rarely referred to lesbian and gay issues. Respondents identified barriers to tackling homophobic bullying, but most thought schools were appropriately placed to provide information on lesbian and gay issues. Study recommendations include: modernising national policy, supporting local teachers and policy‐making in schools through training, new initiatives in citizenship education, and encouraging schools to build collaborative relationships with other local community agencies.

Banter has been defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “the playful and friendly exchange of playful remarks” [www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/banter]. This suggests that it is a form of dialogue or conversation that is welcome, non-threatening and appreciated by the recipient. However, this is often not the case, and the purpose of this paper is to consider the legal rules dealing with banter where it is threatening, unwanted or oppressive to the recipient. Where there is a discriminatory aspect to the banter, the protection provided under equality law will be considered. Banter can be directed at workers with different characteristics (e.g. disability, age, religion, sex, race or sexual orientation), and this paper will consider discriminatory banter whatever the basis. The different types of dialogues falling under the term banter will be analysed and the extent to which legal protection is in place to deal with it will be considered. The statutory legal rules dealing with harassment and bullying in the UK are the most relevant to controlling workplace banter and accordingly will be given primary consideration. Finally, recommendations will be made for improving both management practice and the law in this area.

The methodology used is a thorough review of secondary sources in the UK including relevant statutes and legal cases and research undertaken in this area.

There is a need for legislative change to protect victims of unwanted workplace banter.

Legal and managerial solutions to a complex problem.

Very few sources of primary research.

Highly original.

“Alterophobia”, which refers to prejudice directed towards members of “alternative” sub‐cultures, has been manifest in criminal cases such as the murder of Sophie Lancaster in 2007 (UK). The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether alterophobia is also evident in patterns of school bullying behaviour.

A total of 820 fifth‐year students (16‐17 years old; 339 male (41.3 per cent), 481 female (58.7 per cent), at nine secondary schools in Ireland, were asked to respond to a short, specifically constructed questionnaire, concerning membership of groups and sub‐cultures, and bullying behaviour.

Self‐identified membership of sub‐cultures was infrequent; reports of perceiving that one was identified by others as a member of a sub‐culture were more frequent. Self‐identified members of sub‐cultures reported both having been bullied and having bullied others more frequently than did members of the general sample. Participants expressed that members of “alternative” sub‐cultures (“moshers/rockers”, “goths”, and “emos”) were more likely to be bullied, and that members of “non‐alternative” sub‐cultures (“chavs” and “D4s”) were more likely to bully others. It was concluded that “alterophobic bullying” was a reality, and that members of “alternative” sub‐cultures may be considered to be “at risk” of being bullied.

This study is based on a simple and original questionnaire, and therefore provides indicative/exploratory findings; if a subsequent survey method were attempted, equivalent definitions of sub‐cultures would have to be ensured. It is possible to see how alternative research methods (e.g. focus groups) would permit for advances in understanding in this area.

It is suggested that specific mention of alterophobia in school anti‐bullying policies should be made, and that closer attention to the psychology of prejudice and “pro‐conformist aggression” could inform future anti‐bullying efforts.

The paper is the first to focus explicitly on “alterophobia”, and provides the first empirical evidence on “alterophobic bullying”.

There is a real paucity of evidence relating to homophobic hate crimes in Britain. This has hampered intelligence‐led approaches by the police and other criminal justice agencies in tackling the issues facing many lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This article reports on evidence generated by Stonewall's Homophobic Hate Crime: The gay British crime survey 2008 (Dick, 2008). In particular, it demonstrates the importance of good quality and up‐to‐date evidence by highlighting the fact that under‐reporting of homophobic hate crimes is caused by far more complex factors than previously assumed. Yet, numerous initiatives to tackle hate crime have been based on outdated assumptions around reasons for under‐reporting. The article also contends that the move towards a ‘cross‐strand’ approach and local priority setting threatens the embryonic work on homophobic hate crimes.

Purpose: Sexual minority youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to consider and attempt suicide, in part due to victimization experienced within schools. While existing research suggests that rates of school victimization and suicidality among sexual minority students vary by school and community context, less is known about variation in these experiences at the state level.

Methodology: Using data from a large, representative sample of sexual minority and heterosexual youth (2017 Youth Risk Behavior States Data, n = 64,746 high school students in 22 states), multilevel models examine whether differences between sexual minority and heterosexual students in victimization and suicide risk vary by state-level policies.

Findings: Results suggest that disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual boys in bullying, suicide ideation, and suicide attempt are consistently smaller in states with high levels of overall policy support for LGBTQ equality and nondiscrimination in education laws. Sexual minority girls are more likely than heterosexual girls to be electronically bullied, particularly in states with lower levels of LGBTQ equality. Disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual girls in suicide ideation are lowest in high equality states, but state policies are not significantly associated with disparities in suicide attempt among girls.

Value: Overall, findings suggest that state-level policies supporting LGBTQ equality are associated with a reduced risk of suicide among sexual minority youth. This study speaks to the role of structural stigma in shaping exposure to minority stress and its consequences for sexual minority youth's well-being.

Anti-bullying legislation has been adopted in every state to prevent the victimization of youth, but the focus on deterring and criminalizing individual behavior can obscure the contextual factors that contribute to aggression. This theoretical paper engages sociological literature to understand the impact of recent anti-bullying legislation on students’ experiences.

We discuss stigma and account-making theory to theorize the ways students become particularly vulnerable to victimization and may or may not be sufficiently protected under the law. We also engage criminological theories to understand how punishment may not be sufficient for preventing aggressive behavior but may instead lead students to employ strategies to avoid being caught or punished for their behaviors.

We argue that the majority of current anti-bullying definitions and protocols in use are ambiguous and insufficient in protecting vulnerable groups of students, particularly students with disabilities, overweight students, and LGBT +  students.

Our findings suggest that schools should seek to understand and alter the school-wide cultures and norms that permit aggressive behavior in the first place, in turn creating more inclusive school environments.

Bullying is a complex phenomenon that is grounded in intricate interactions between an individual and the social and environmental systems that surround the individual. At the present time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have adopted bully prevention legislation to reduce the prevalence among school-aged youth. Unfortunately, bullying is associated with adverse long- and short-term outcomes, where students with disabilities, including those with behavioral disabilities, may be at escalated risk for involvement and difficulty navigating the effects of prolonged exposure to bullying. Given the complexity of bullying, several participatory roles have been established to help guide identification and intervention delivery by recognizing the reciprocity between bullying and victimization. Most importantly, interventions should be situated within a multitired or component framework and grounded in skill development, where bully prevention programming is delivered to all students based on individual need. By recognizing the risk characteristics and understanding the various student profiles, especially as they related to youth with disabilities, schools can development, adopt, and implementing prevention programming that is designed to simultaneously increase academic, functional, and behavioral development, while decreasing bullying involvement.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand bullying behaviours in the workplace and how these behaviours can be addressed as part of an ongoing and integral approach to diversity through building bigger and more assertive relationships in which there is greater awareness and understanding of each other – our differences and similarities

A psychological approach is taken in order to better understand the phenomena of bullying and the kinds of interventions that can facilitate individuals, groups and organisations in becoming more inclusive and assertive

Incidents of bullying behaviour in organisations towards people most typically are directed at individuals from the very groups of people who are regularly targeted for bullying simply for being different from the majority and not because of something that they have done or not done

A deeper understanding of the dynamics of bullying behaviour in organisations leading to suggestions as to how organisations can promote attitudes, values and behaviours that are inclusive and allowing of difference.