Bullying or victimisation occurs when an individual is the target of repeated aggression, an inequality of power (social, physical, or in abilities) is perceived by those involved, and there is an intention to cause harm to the victim or it is perceived as such by the victim (Hazler, Miller, Carney, & Green, 2001; Olweus, 1996).

Over the past three decades there has been a considerable amount of research into school bullying which has noted that it is experienced by a number of children and adolescents and can have damaging effects (see Smith, 2011). It has not been until recently that research into school bullying has focussed directly on the ethnic or cultural background of those involved. Many of the studies which have looked at this have focussed on whether there are differences in the experiences of victimisation between children and adolescents from cultural majority or minority groups. Most of these studies have been conducted in North America and have noted that children and adolescents from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely than those from the ethnic majority to report having been bullied (Carlyle & Steinman, 2007; Juvonen, Graham, & Schuster, 2003; Mouttapa, Valente, Gallaher, Rohrbach, & Unger, 2004; Peskin, Tortolero, & Markham, 2006; Sawyer, Bradshaw, & O’Brennan, 2008; Spriggs, Iannotti, Nansel, & Haynie, 2007). Several European studies have reported similar findings (Strohmeier, Kärnä, & Salmivalli, 2011; Strohmeier, Spiel, & Gradinger, 2008). However, some research within Europe has concluded that there are no significant differences in the prevalence of victimisation as a function of the cultural background of the participants (Fandrem, Strohmeier, & Roland, 2009; Monks, Ortega-Ruiz, & Rodríguez-Hidalgo, 2008; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Ortega-Ruiz, & Zych, 2014; Sweeting & West, 2001).

Other studies have directly examined victimisation with a cultural component, content or motive. Monks et al. (2008) used the term ‘cultural victimisation’ to include victimisation that appears to have a racial, ethnic, or cultural motive. Most studies of cultural victimisation have focussed on racist insults. Racist name-calling has been assessed in a number of studies as a subtype of victimisation along with other forms which are not explicitly racist in focus, such as experiencing physical aggression, having property stolen or damaged on purpose, and being the target of insults or threats (Strohmeier et al., 2011).

In contrast, some researchers have suggested that cultural victimisation is somewhat independent of personal victimisation. They argue that cultural victimisation can be carried out in a variety of ways, not only by racist insults, but also by other means such as social exclusion and the spreading of rumours, and that these forms of victimisation are experienced more often by individuals from cultural minority groups than those in the cultural majority (McKenney, Pepler, Craig, & Connolly, 2006; Monks et al., 2008; Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2014; Verkuyten & Thijs, 2001, 2002, 2006). In this way, a victim of cultural victimisation may experience distinct types of racist aggression. ‘Multi-victimisation’ has been used to refer to situations in which the victim experiences several different types of aggression (Blaya, Debarbieux, del Rey, & Ortega, 2006). We suggest using the term ‘cultural multi-victimisation’ to refer to experiencing a variety of different forms of cultural victimisation.

Adolescents tend to rate cultural victimisation as being worse than personal victimisation (Monks et al., 2008). Cultural victimisation may have a negative impact on the recipient. Verkuyten and Thijs (2001) and Monks, Ortega, and Rodríguez (2010) found a negative relationship between the experience of cultural victimisation and cultural self-esteem (although this was non-significant in Verkuyten & Thijs’ study). It is possible that cultural victimisation damages feelings of cultural self-esteem, or that those with poorer cultural self-esteem are more at risk of cultural victimisation.

Recently, Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al. (2014) found negative relations between ethnic-cultural victimisation and: a) personal self-esteem (not specifically cultural) and b) social adjustment. In addition, they observed that pupils who were frequent victims of ethnic-cultural victimisation had fewer friends than non-victims. Whereas, there was a positive relationship between personal multi-victimisation and ethnic-cultural multi-victimisation. However, it was not possible to describe the meaning of these relations. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that the integrated study of these variables is necessary by means of the development of new theoretical models supported by empirical data.

To date, very few studies of cultural victimisation and discrimination have proposed theoretical models based on empirical data regarding the effects of these experiences. The research of Thijs and Verkuyten (2008) and Verkuyten and Thijs (2006) is a notable exception, although they examined victimisation and discrimination beyond the educational context and not only caused by bullying among pupils. Verkuyten and Thijs found that personal victimisation was negatively related to global self-esteem, but not cultural self-esteem. Ethnic discrimination was negatively related to global self-esteem, but was mediated by cultural self-esteem. In order to explain the mediating role of cultural self-esteem, the researchers suggested a structural conception of global self-esteem which is made up of various components, including cultural self-esteem.

Kim, Wang, Deng, Alvarez, and Li (2011) and Shin, D’Antonio, Son, Kim, and Park (2011) produced structural models in which cultural victimisation and discrimination had the effect of a positive mediator between other variables such as the level of comprehension of English, being the object of cultural stereotypes, or the percentage of the cultural majority within their school, and symptoms of depression.

The current study attempts to test a structural equation model of victimisation in multi-cultural settings which integrates personal and cultural forms of victimisation. A model of the effects of personal and cultural victimisation is proposed, examining the impact on global self-esteem, cultural self-esteem and emotions, including possible mediator variables such as the percentage of the cultural majority within the school. From this model it may be possible to suggest some important considerations for the design of more effective intervention and prevention programmes for victimisation and discrimination in multi-cultural school contexts.

When focussing on personal victimisation, personal self-esteem and the emotional state of adolescents from distinct cultural groups, it appears that being from a cultural majority or minority may not be a particular risk factor. Several recent studies have concluded that there is no significant difference between cultural groups in the prevalence levels of victimisation (not specified as having a cultural content) as a function of cultural group (Fandrem, et al., 2009; Monks et al., 2008; Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2014; Sweeting & West, 2001). The results from the current study are in accord with this conclusion, expanding on this topic to demonstrate that is holds true for 1) personal multi-victimisation, 2) the frequency of personal victimisation experienced, and 3) the negativity of the feelings caused by being the target of this victimisation. In addition, it was noted that the levels of personal self-esteem and emotional state were relatively homogenous between adolescents regardless of their cultural group.

When focussing on victimisation which is cultural in nature and cultural self-esteem, we find clear evidence to support the suggestion that those adolescents from cultural minority groups are at heightened risk. For cultural victimisation, multi-victimisation, frequency, and level of negative feelings were significantly higher among those from cultural minority groups than those who were from the cultural majority. Furthermore, the cultural self-esteem of pupils in the minority groups was lower than that shown by those from cultural majority groups.

The results obtained reinforce the idea of studying both personal victimisation and cultural victimisation in order to be able to consider the range of victimisation among pupils in multi-cultural contexts. This led us to propose a model which integrates personal and cultural victimisation, which is something that has been noted in other studies (e.g., Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2014). Furthermore, the current study demonstrates a step forward in the way in which the latent victimisation variables are formed, by incorporating three observed variables: multi-victimisation experienced, the frequency of being a victim, and the negativity of the feelings of the victim. These three variables are faithful to those proposed theoretically in the literature on peer-victimisation (Olweus, 1996).

The confirmation of the model integrating personal and cultural victimisation has enabled us to propose a structural equation model which is more complete in that it shows the effects of these variables over others. This model is successful for adolescents in this sample, independent of gender, age group, and whether they are from the cultural majority or minority.

Verkuyten and Thijs (2006) proposed 2 models based on which victimisation and ethnic discrimination (not exclusively bullying) were considered separately. In contrast, the present study integrated personal and cultural victimisation into the same model. This enabled us to contemplate other possible mediator and moderator variables and their effects on self-esteem, cultural self-esteem, and emotional state. The clearest agreement between the models of Verkuyten and Thijs and the model proposed by the current study is that an increase in personal victimisation has a direct negative effect on personal self-esteem.

In contrast to the models of Verkuyten and Thijs (2006), we did not find that cultural victimisation produces a negative effect on cultural self-esteem and that this in turn negatively impacts on general self-esteem. This new model considers cultural self-esteem not as a mediator, but as a variable indirectly affected by two routes from personal and cultural victimisation. The first route is common for participants from the cultural majority and cultural minority groups: personal victimisation produces a negative effect on personal self-esteem, which then impacts negatively on cultural self-esteem. This route is reinforced when adolescents recognise themselves not only as being not only victims of personal, but also targets of cultural aggression. The first route can be explained by considering the structural concept of global self-esteem: personal victimisation produces a negative effect on personal self-esteem (global), which has a negative effect on one part of its components, cultural self-esteem. The second route is more consistent among members of the cultural majority: the increase in the experience of cultural victimisation, when it takes place in contexts where the cultural majority is less numerous, produces a negative indirect effect on the cultural self-esteem of the victims. Considering the two routes described and the differences detected between the cultural groups, it is noteworthy that for adolescents from the cultural minority who suffer cultural victimisation, it is only when they also suffer personal victimisation that we see a negative impact on their general self-esteem and in consequence their cultural self-esteem.

Kim et al., (2011) and Shin, D’Antonio, Son, Kim, & Park (2011) show how discrimination and/or victimisation experienced by adolescents from Asian backgrounds in the USA has a negative effect on their psychological well-being. The model from our study is consistent with this, showing how the emotional state is indirectly and negatively affected by personal and cultural victimisation, mediated by personal and cultural self-esteem and the percentage of the presence of the cultural majority. The results of the present study enable us to see this relationship not only among adolescents from the cultural minority, but also among adolescents from the cultural majority, although there are some differences between these groups in the weight of these intermediate variables. This study suggests that there is a strong relationship between the experience of victimisation, self-esteem, and emotional adjustment. It also indicates that prevention and intervention programmes should include not only those pupils who feel excluded for being part of a cultural minority, but all pupils. Education programmes which focus on the development of self-esteem and healthy emotional adjustment can benefit not only more vulnerable pupils, such as those who come from minority groups, but also the student group as a whole. If levels of self-esteem and emotional adjustment are improved for all pupils, this may have the effect on the minority group among whom we may see a reduction in vulnerability to victimisation.

It is worth noting that the current study was cross-sectional in nature. In this study we consider the effects of victimisation on self-esteem. However, it is important to note that low self-esteem may predate victimisation and may act as both a risk factor and consequence of victimisation (e.g., Egan & Perry, 1998). Longitudinal studies would aid in making this distinction.

The model tested in the present study indicated the need to consider personal and cultural victimisation together if we want to address the effects of peer bullying. This model may have implications for the development of intervention programmes aimed at preventing and dealing with victimisation among peers in educational contexts in multi-cultural societies. Until now, psycho-educational programmes have tended to focus solely on personal victimisation, or on cultural discrimination as a wider social phenomenon (not just among peers). On the basis of the present model it is possible to infer that although these two lines of intervention may have positive effects for prevention and intervention, the effects may be limited. The model presented here opens the possibility of a third way of designing programmes to prevent/intervene with bullying and victimisation in multi-cultural contexts. These programmes could be made more effective by considering the personal and cultural characteristics of violence between peers as well as the effects on self-esteem, cultural self-esteem and emotional state. They could be seen as an alternative to those currently available and would consider personal victimisation and cultural victimisation together.

Future studies should focus on the search for the precursors and risk factors for interpersonal and intercultural violence among children and adolescents. This will enable the design of more precise strategies for prevention and palliative work.

The authors of this article declare no conflict of interest.