Introduction:

Bullying is a complex behavioral disorder that can be observed in all societies and socio-economic classess. Although a common problem, this issue has been somehow neglected in child psychiatric literature. In this paper the aim is to draw attention to the reasons of bullying behavior and make suggestions about the measures to be taken against bullying, keeping in mind that it is an important risk factor for child mental health.

Method:

To cast light on this important issue we reviewed the studies of the last twenty years.

Results and conclusion:

The most important implications of these researches are as follows: Each case contains its own dynamics. So not cross-sectional but longitidunal research should be the way to understand internal and external factors creating bullying. The notions like "excluded children become bullies or all bullies are excluded children" are not always true. Despite the richness of the literature on this subject, most data comes from observations and questionnaires but not on ampirical studies. This maybe due to the complex and unique structure of bullying behavior that may be hard to measure.

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