Abstract
Bullying is a problem amongst school learners that has a long-term impact and is detrimental to each learner’s psychological health. A significant body of knowledge on bullying studies exists internationally and locally. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the factors associated with bullying perpetration and victimization amongst learners in Gauteng. This study draws on ecological systems theory as a theoretical framework to illustrate the voices of the perpetrators and victims of bullying in the high school context in Gauteng. The study employed a phenomenological approach and snowball sampling method to collect the data from learners in grades 9 to 12 between the ages of 15 and 18 years. The data was collected using semi-structured individual interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The study findings indicated that factors such as home environment, family, peers, school, and community play a huge role in initiating and perpetuating bullying for both perpetration and victimization amongst high school learners. Inequality and poverty make it difficult to combat bullying perpetration and victimization in the school setting. Additionally, most of the perpetrators were found to have once been victims of bullying themselves. The researcher recommends that more attention be given to perpetrators and victims of bullying to permit them to share the challenges associated bullying. Learners must participate in policymaking to devise strategies to combat bullying in schools, while educators and school leaders should be on the lookout for indirect and covert bullying, such as social isolation and purposeful exclusion of school learners.
Keywords: bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, factors, learners, schools.