Characteristics of peer sexual harassment in late childhood: What, where, who and how often?

• Background: Peer sexual harassment (PSH), or unwanted sexual attention, is highly prevalent in mid-adolescence. PSH is assumed to start with puberty, which occurs in early adolescence. However, because research on PSH before puberty is basically non-existent, this assumption is still to be tested empirically. Research question(s): The aim of this study was to examine PSH in late childhood in terms of prevalence (victimization, perpetration, and witnessing), types of PSH, the context of PSH (age and gender of perpetrator, location and bystanders), and victims’ reactions to PSH. Methods: The study is part of the three-year longitudinal PRISE study examining PSH in Swedish middle schools (ages 10-12 years; Skoog et al., 2019). The present results are based on questionnaire data collected at the first and ongoing wave of the study, comprising a sample of 10-year-old boys (n=259) and girls (n=287) from 16 schools. Results: Approximately half of the participants reported PSH victimization at least once during the current semester, a sixth reported PSH perpetration, and two thirds reported witnessing PSH. Exposure to verbal PSH was the most frequent type reported by victims, and especially by boys. PSH most frequently occurred at the schoolyard and the perpetrator was often a same-age boy. Victims reported that other students were the most frequent bystanders of PSH. Victims often reacted to the harassment by not caring about it or telling the perpetrator off. Discussion: PSH, especially verbal forms, is highly prevalent already before the age of puberty. This finding challenges assumptions that PSH typically onsets in adolescence. Boys were more likely than girls to be both victims and perpetrators of (verbal) PSH. That PSH occurs at schoolyards, in the presence of peers, makes room for interpreting, and dealing with, PSH as a group phenomenon. The findings also highlight the need for early prevention against PSH.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Peer sexual harassment

Late childhood

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)