Abstract

The empirical evidence on bullying mainly comes from studies conducted in the established democratic societies. However, studies on risk factors, psychological and social consequences of bullying in postwar, postsocialist West Balkan countries are relatively scarce. We utilize Bronfenbrenner’s theory of social-ecological development in postwar, postsocialist context, aiming to review existing literature on complex interactions of actors within a child’s environment and their impact on bullying behavior. Apart from focusing on immediate influences of families and schools, we also aimed at extending our analysis by observing the interplay of micro-, meso-, exo- and macrosystem to identify broader environmental influences on bullying behavior among children in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. Synthesis of findings from existing studies shows that although war ended in 1995, the macroenvironmental influences, resulting from changes imposed by postsocialist transition, ethnic tensions, segregation based on nationality and lack of consensus among politicians of three conflicted ethnical groups, create culture that perpetrates various forms of violent behavior in families, schools and society.