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The social phenomenon known as bullying is perhaps best understood sociologically by highlighting the indisputably devastating denial of its harmful effects, if not its existence, that characterized much of this nation's position prior to 1999. The statistic that most acutely captures this characterization is one determined by the Secret Service; from 1974 to 2000, 71 percent of "school shooters" in the United States reported having been at one time the victim of chronic bullying. As this review of the existing literature on this phenomenon will reveal, it is the tolerance of this behavior that has served as one of the primary contributors to its persistence and severity. Therefore, due to this phenomenon's enduringly harmful, disturbing, and dangerous consequences, which have become inexorably etched into the collective memory of society, the need to investigate and determine its etiology is beyond measure. The social phenomenon of bullying, particularly that mode of bullying distinguished by its location - school - has been examined and analyzed within a relatively broad range of disciplines. School bullying, much like many other social phenomena, exists within several overlapping social spheres. Therefore, experts in such disciplines as psychology, sociology, education, criminology, public health, child development, and the medical sciences, have conducted research on this construct. Consequently, this analytical review addresses the various theoretical frameworks that represent these disciplines. Specifically, this review consists of an examination and subsequent critique of the research concerning the relationship of the family, in terms of its structure and processes, to the etiology of bullying behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]