No Safe Space at School: Exploring Power Dynamics, Bullying Locations, and Maladaptive Behaviors Among US Adolescents

School bullying is not merely a random event but rather involves intricate power dynamics in each bullying event. However, less is known about whether this power asymmetry could lead to different spatial patterns of bullying within the school environment, contributing to distinct perceptions of the usage of social spaces within the school context defined by bullies and victims. Further, it remains unclear how differentiated bullying victimization experiences and power imbalances could jointly result in victims' heterogeneous maladaptive behavioral responses. In response, this study was the first to conduct latent class analysis to identify subgroups of victims of bullying and compare these subgroups based on power differences with the bullies, locations of bullying, and their associations with distinct behavioral responses. This study used the adolescent sample from the 2022 School Crime Supplement (SCS) of the National Crime Victimization Survey (n = 1249; ages 12-18 years [mean: 14.3; SD: 1.85]; 45.8% male; 79.3% White, 9.8% Black, 2.5% Asian, and 8.4% other racial groups). Five victim classes emerged: "Marginal victims" (29.3%), "Outpowered victims" (28.2%), "Classroom-specific victims" (16.7%), "Hallway-specific victims" (16.8%), and "Pervasive victims" (9%). Results of logistic regression revealed that "Outpowered victims" and "Pervasive victims" were significantly more likely to exhibit maladaptive behaviors such as avoidance and fear, but only the "Pervasive victims" group showed an increased likelihood of carrying weapons to school, compared to the "Marginal victims" group. The findings suggest that bullying is intricately tied to power dynamics, with dominant-subordinate relationships reproduced in school spaces. Structured areas, such as classrooms and hallways, emerged as key bullying sites, challenging assumptions that bullying primarily occurs in unstructured spaces. This study reveals how power imbalances between adolescents shape their perception and use of school spaces, demonstrating that youth develop different behavioral responses based on their position in social hierarchies.