Peer Violence in Serbia from the Standpoint of Researchers: Implications for Further Research

The research of the problem of peer violence, i.e. bullying, has great theoretical and practical significance, because if it is frequently spoken about violence, the phenomenon can be prevented, thus avoiding serious consequences, threatening for child development. In the society where we live, violence is widespread. The increase of violence is manifested in schools, as well. This was the very reason made us focus on the study of this problem. Although it seems that bullying is a researched topic of a large body of domestic and foreign research, the issue is becoming more pressing. The aim of the present paper is to review research papers on peer violence, i.e. bullying, and to systematize knowledge in this field which would result in the creation of guidelines for practical work. In this review we used the services of Serbian Library Consortium for Coordinated Acquisition - KOBSON in order to browse and investigate research papers. The search included articles published in the period between 2000 and 2014. Investigation included a great number of papers but 60 of them were used for the present paper. A qualitative research was conducted in which content analysis was used as a procedure of investigation. Concerns about bullying have intensified demands to explain the problem and to take measures to resolve it. It is necessary that all schools implement various programs and projects whose objectives are teaching non-violent communication, reducing violence in schools as well as the activation of children and youth. As a consequence, peer violence can be decreased and prevented by suppressing what drives it and by changing the motives causing it.