Identifying Victims of Bullying: Use of Counselor Interviews to Confirm Peer Nominations

Abstract

Schools often rely on anonymous self-report methods to measure bullying victimization, but these methods prevent school personnel from identifying those students who may require support. In contrast, this study employed peer nominations to identify student victims of bullying and used school counselor interviews to confirm the students’ victim status. A sample of 1,178 middle school students completed a confidential peer nomination form as part of a standard bullying survey. Students with multiple nominations were interviewed by school counselors to confirm victim status. The proportion of students confirmed as victims increased from 43% for students with two or more nominations to 90% for students with nine or more nominations.