Social Bonds and the Role of School-Based Victimization

This study explores the impact of school-based victimization on the adolescent's social bond. Previous research has provided empirical support for Hirschi's social control theory that the strength of the adolescent's social bond is associated with the probability that he or she will engage in criminal offending. However, research identifying what factors influence the strength of the adolescent's social bond is limited. In addition, research has established that school-based victimization is associated with numerous negative outcomes, including diminished educational outcomes and criminal offending. Therefore, it is plausible that school-based victimization undermines the adolescent's social bonds to school. Using a sample of 10th-grade students from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, HLM models were developed to explore the relationship between school-based victimization and the adolescent's social bond to school. The results suggest that school-based victimization has a negative association with three elements of the adolescent's social bond to school: attachment, commitment, and belief. This study demonstrates the need for further research to identify the determinants of the strength of the adolescent's social bond to school.