“We were Sad and We were Angry”: A Systematic Review of Parents’ Perspectives on Bullying

Background The social-ecological systems perspective describes bullying as a complex social phenomenon, influenced by numerous social variables within a child’s school, home, peer, and community environments. As such, it is important to gain the perspective of a wide range of stakeholders within these environments, in order to truly understand bullying and develop effective prevention and intervention programmes. Objective Parents’ experiences with bullying remain relatively unexplored. Accordingly, this systematic review aimed to summarise qualitative research examining parents’ experiences with and perceptions of bullying. Methods Electronic searches were conducted in the PsycINFO, Education Resources Information Center, ProQuest, A+ Education, and Academic Search Premier databases; reference lists and specific journals were also searched. Selected studies were read thoroughly, and the main findings were categorised into common themes. Results Thirteen studies were identified to be included in the review. Six themes emerged: (1) variation in parents’ definitions of bullying, (2) the perception of bullying as normal, and a tendency to blame victims, (3) parents’ strategies for coping with bullying, (4) the negative effects of bullying, (5) issues of disclosure, awareness and support, and (6) the question of responsibility for dealing with bullying. Conclusions Parents’ experiences with bullying are varied and diverse. However, parents consistently expressed the need for targeted information and guidelines on how to deal with bullying. Furthermore, greater awareness and understanding of bullying among parents is necessary, along with the acknowledgement of shared responsibility for bullying, and greater collaboration between schools and families.