Journal of Research on Adolescence
Proposal for a Special Issue in the Journal of Research on Adolescence
Call for papers: Exploring Identity-based Discrimination, Victimization, Bullying, and Violence among Adolescents from a Global Perspective
Important Dates:
Call for Special Issue: January 31, 2025
Abstract submission: April 30, 2025
Special Issue editors notify authors to submit full manuscript: May 31, 2025
Full manuscript submission: October 31, 2025
Initial manuscript decisions (after peer-review): January 31, 2026
Revised manuscript submission: April 30, 2026
Final decision on manuscript: July 31, 2026
Special Issue published: September 30, 2026
Special Issue Editors: Dr. Sevgi Bayram Özdemir, Örebro University, Sweden (sevgi.bayram-ozdemir@oru.se), Dr. Philip Baiden, The University of Texas at Arlington, USA (philip.baiden@uta.edu), Dr. Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana (enquarshie@ug.edu.gh), Dr. Vaishali V. Raval, Miami University, USA (ravalvv@miamioh.edu)
Background and Aims of Special Issue:
With the rise of polarized political discourse globally, adolescents with minoritized identities face heightened risks of mistreatment across settings, including schools (Joo et al., 2023), online platforms (Kansok-Dusche et al., 2022), and within their communities (Darawshy, 2020). A systematic review showed that 31% to 68% of adolescents worldwide had either been exposed to or witnessed cyberhate (Kansok-Dusche et al., 2022). Studies from countries such as the United States (U.S.) and Sweden show that a quarter to nearly half of adolescents who experience bullying believed the bullying was related to their race, religion, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or physical appearance (Joo et al., 2023; Rädda Barnen, 2022). Moreover, exposure to community violence has also been identified as a major public health concern among minority youth; for instance, in South Africa (Pillay et al., 2024), in the Middle-East (Darawshy, 2020), and in the U.S. (Ozer et al., 2017). These adverse experiences profoundly affect young people’s psychosocial functioning, school adjustment, and increase the risk of engaging in problematic behaviors both in the short term (e.g., Fusco et al., 2024; Sapouna et al., 2023) and over time (e.g., Bayram Özdemir et al., 2019; Galán et al., 2021). Importantly, a bulk of this research on identity-based discrimination, victimization, bullying, and violence among adolescents is based on samples from the Minority World, primarily from North America and Europe. Relatively less is known about the lived experiences and challenges of minoritized adolescents in the Majority World (Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean) (Swartz et al., 2023). Consequently, theoretical models of identity-based discrimination, victimization, bullying, and violence, as well as methodological approaches used to study these constructs are also based on Minority World scholarship. Existing evidence from the Minority World suggests the need to develop effective strategies for preventing and intervening with this global challenge, underscoring the relevance of research from Majority World communities to inform the development of intervention and prevention approaches. Thus, the goal of this special issue is to bring together research addressing these pressing issues in diverse communities globally, using diverse and relevant methods that can inform, expand, and potentially challenge existing theoretical frameworks and guide the development of culturally relevant prevention and intervention approaches.
In this special issue, we seek articles that explore:
- Identity-based negative experiences of minoritized adolescents, including identity-based discrimination, victimization, bullying, and violence, particularly in communities where little published research is available (e.g., communities in the Majority World).
- Intersectional effects as well as mechanisms of multiple experiences of identity-based discrimination, victimization, bullying, and violence.
- Factors/mechanisms that help victims of identity-based discrimination, victimization, bullying, and violence cope and mitigate negative outcomes.
- Malleable factors that prevent adolescents from engaging in discriminatory behaviors or bullying.
- Strategies to enhance the capacity of teachers, school personnel, and parents to address these issues and support victimized adolescents.
- Interventions and prevention programs specifically addressing identity-based discrimination, victimization, bullying, and violence among adolescents.
- Factors that encourage socially inclusive attitudes and behaviors among adolescents.
- Factors that motivate adolescents to take social actions to foster inclusive social interactions.
- Promotive interventions aiming to foster inclusive attitudes, behaviors, and actions among adolescents.
Both basic and applied studies using diverse methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and participatory action research, as well as high quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses will be considered.
Abstract Instructions:
We welcome abstract submissions for this special section by email to: jraglobalperspective@gmail.com
Abstracts (2 single-spaced page of main text, 1 page of references, 1-2 tables and/or figures) must include:
- Title
- Authors’ names, emails, and affiliations
- Provie a brief literature review, gaps in existing literature that form the rationale for your study, study aims and research questions; an overview of the method including participants, data sources, measures and procedure as relevant; and describe major findings. Please ensure that you describe how 1) your research questions and 2) research methods used to address those questions are relevant to adolescents in local communities; 3) provide information about local sociocultural, political, economic, educational contexts in which adolescents are embedded, and 4) discuss and interpret your findings from a cultural asset rather than a deficit framework
- Provide a one-paragraph argument that explains how your study fits with the Special Issue Call
- Provide a researcher reflexivity statement where you describe the positionality of authors
References
Bayram Özdemir, S., Özdemir, M., & Stattin, H. (2019). Ethnic harassment and immigrant youth’s engagement in violent behaviors: Understanding the risk factors. Child Development, 90(3), 808–824. Doi: 10.1111/cdev.12975
Darawshy, N. A. S. (2020). Israeli Palestinian adolescents’ exposure to community violence and their academic achievements: The indirect effects of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and parental psychological well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(12), 3408 – 3419. Doi: 10.1007/s10826-020-01841-y
Fusco, N. V., Holt, M. K., Merrin, G. J., & Green, J. G. (2024). Social–emotional functioning among bias-based bullies, victims, and bully-victims. School Psychology. Doi: 10.1037/spq0000620
Galán, C. A., Stokes, L. R., Szoko, N., Abebe, K. Z., & Culyba, A. J. (2021). Exploration of experiences and perpetration of identity-based bullying among adolescents by race/ethnicity and other marginalized identities. JAMA Network Open, 4(7), e2116364. Doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.16364
Joo, H., Lee, H., & Rodriguez, B. (2023). Trends in bias-based bullying from 2015 to 2019 and the associations among bias-based bullying, school avoidance, and supportive adults at school. Journal of School Violence, 22(4), 543 – 555. Doi: 10.1080/15388220.2023.2248875
Kansok-Dusche, J., Ballaschk, C., Krause, N., Zeißig, A., Seemann-Herz, L., Wachs, S., & Bilz, L. (2023). A systematic review on hate speech among children and adolescents: Definitions, prevalence, and overlap with related phenomena. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(4), 2598 – 2615. Doi: 10.1177/15248380221108070
Ozer, E. J., Lavi, I., Douglas, L., & Wolf, J. P. (2017). Protective factors for youth exposed to violence in their communities: A review of family, school, and community moderators. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46(3), 353 – 378. Doi: 10.1080/15374416.2015.1046178
Pillay, L. G., Pillay, B. J., & Sibanda, W. (2024). Youth exposure to violence and victimization in a South African community sample. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 30(1), 1-8. Doi: 10.4102/ sajpsychiatry.v30i0.2311
Rädda Barnen. (2022). Time to listen to the views of children. https://www.raddabarnen. se/
Sapouna, M., de Amicis, L., & Vezzali, L. (2023). Bullying victimization due to racial, ethnic, citizenship and/or religious status: A systematic review. Adolescent Research Review, 8(3), 261–296. Doi: 10.1007/s40894-022-00197-2
Swartz, S., van der Heijden, I., Thomas, T., & Harvey, J. (2023). The effects of identity-based discrimination on young people in the global south: Evidence review. https://repository.hsrc.ac.za/handle/20.500.11910/20320