BRAZILIAN RESEARCH ON BULLYING IN SCHOOLS BETWEEN 2020 AND 2023: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

With the increase in cases of violent attacks on schools in Brazil (Vinha et al., 2023), the issue of violence prevention in these settings has increasingly become a matter of state intervention. Bullying is one such phenomenon and was criminalized in the wake of the public outcry caused by these attacks (Brazil, 2024). This change requires special attention regarding the definition of the concept and the mapping of the possible causes and consequences of both bullying practices and bullying victimization. In this context, this systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of recent research on the topic published in the country. The study follows the reviews by Coelho (2016) and Albuquerque and Maciel (2022), who conducted systematic reviews on school bullying covering the periods 2009–2014 and 2015–2019, respectively. The findings indicate that research on bullying in Brazil has focused more on describing the phenomenon and identifying associated factors than on proposing or evaluating intervention strategies. Academic production on the effects of anti-bullying interventions is expanding, but it still lacks greater methodological rigor. In sum, although there is significant academic interest in the topic of bullying, the operationalization of the concept needs to be carried out more carefully and with stronger theoretical grounding.