An Evaluation of Studies on Peer Bullying in Türki̇ye: A Meta-Synthesis Study

This study intends to systematically evaluate peer bullying research conducted in Türkiye employing the meta-synthesis method. Utilizing semantic content analysis, the study encompassed peer bullying studies indexed in the YÖK National Thesis Centre, TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM Social and Humanities Database, and Google Scholar. The study group consisted of nine studies selected using the criterion sampling method, including five graduate theses and four peer-reviewed journal articles. To ensure the validity of the study, all research procedures were thoroughly documented. Further, detailed explanations were provided to facilitate the replication and verification of the findings in future research. Inter-coder reliability was calculated at 90%. The interpretation of the findings was guided by General Strain Theory. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: the definition of peer bullying, types of peer bullying, and causes of peer bullying. Under the umbrella theme of ‘defining peer bullying’, the identified sub-themes were power imbalance, intentional harm, relational harm, and repetition. The theme of types of peer bullying included sub-themes, viz., verbal bullying, psychological/emotional bullying, physical bullying, damage to personal property, and cyberbullying. For the causes of peer bullying, the sub-themes included family-related, individual-related, media-related, environment-related, and school-related factors. In light of these findings, it is recommended that comprehensive intervention programs be developed for all schools, with particular attention to those identified as high-risk. Both the internal and external stakeholders should be actively involved in the development of these programs. Moreover, training initiatives should be implemented at all educational levels and for all stakeholders, coordinated under the leadership of the Ministry of National Education. It is anticipated that the prospective meta-synthesis studies examining other components of peer bullying will contribute further to the academic literature.