Debra Pepler is a Canadian

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

known for her research and advocacy within the field of childhood

aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

and

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

. She is currently a distinguished research professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

Career

Pepler completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

in 1973, followed by a Master of Science degree at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

in 1976. In 1979, she was awarded her PhD from the University of Waterloo. She has been a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at York University since 1988 and a senior associate scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto since 2001. Pepler is a nationally recognized expert in the field of childhood aggression, including bullying. She has co-edited 12 books and published over 200 refereed journal articles, book chapters, and white papers. In one major project, Pepler and colleagues recorded and analyzed video footage of children's interactions on the playground and in the classroom, observing their bullying experiences, targets' coping styles, and peers' responses. In 1997, she appeared on an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss her work on bullying. In 2006, Pepler co-founded (with Wendy Craig, her first PhD student) Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network
PREVNet
, a collaboration between researchers and community organizations dedicated to preventing childhood bullying and violence. In 2015, Pepler was awarded the Donald O. Hebb Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science, by the Canadian Psychological Association. In 2019, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepler, Debra Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academic staff of York University Canadian psychologists University of Waterloo alumni Dalhousie University alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian women psychologists