![Share of children who report being bullied, OWID](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Share_of_children_who_report_being_bullied%2C_OWID.svg)
Bullying is the use of force,
coercion, hurtful
teasing
Teasing has multiple meanings and uses. In human interactions, teasing exists in three major forms: ''playful'', ''hurtful'', and ''educative''. Teasing can have a variety of effects, depending on how it is used and its intended effect. When teas ...
or threat, to
abuse, aggressively
dominate
The Dominate, also known as the late Roman Empire, is the name sometimes given to the " despotic" later phase of imperial government in the ancient Roman Empire. It followed the earlier period known as the "Principate". Until the empire was reuni ...
or
intimidate
Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...
. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbalance of physical or
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict. Bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behavior characterized by hostile intent, imbalance of power and repetition over a period of time. Bullying is the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another individual, physically, mentally or
emotionally.
Bullying can be done individually or by a group, called
mobbing
Mobbing, as a sociological term, means bullying of an individual by a group, in any context, such as a family, peer group, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, or online. When it occurs as physical and emotional abuse in the workplace, suc ...
,
in which the bully may have one or more followers who are willing to assist the primary bully or who reinforce the bully by providing positive feedback such as laughing. Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as "peer abuse".
Robert W. Fuller
Robert Works Fuller (born 1936) is an American physicist, author, social reformer, and former president of Oberlin College.
Biography
Robert Fuller attended Oberlin College, leaving without graduating in order to earn his Ph.D. in physics at ...
has analyzed bullying in the context of
rankism
Rankism is "abusive, discriminatory, and/or exploitative behavior towards people because of their rank in a particular hierarchy".
Rank-based abuse underlies many other phenomena such as bullying, racism, hazing, ageism, sexism, ableism, mentalis ...
. The Swedish-Norwegian researcher
Dan Olweus
Dan Olweus (April 18, 1931 – September 20, 2020) was a Swedish-Norwegian psychologist. He was a research professor of psychology at the University of Bergen, Norway. Olweus has been widely recognized as a pioneer of research on bullying.
B ...
says bullying occurs when a person is "exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons",
and that negative actions occur "when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, through words or in other ways".
Individual bullying is usually characterized by a person behaving in a certain way to gain
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
over another person.
A bullying culture can develop in any context in which humans interact with each other. This may include
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
, family, the
workplace
A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...
,
the home, and neighborhoods. The main platform for bullying in contemporary culture is on social media websites. In a 2012 study of male adolescent American football players, "the strongest predictor
f bullying
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
was the perception of whether the most influential male in a player's life would approve of the bullying behavior." A study by ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' Child & Adolescent Health in 2019 showed a relationship between social media use by girls and an increase in their exposure to bullying.
Bullying may be defined in many different ways. In the United Kingdom, there is no legal definition of bullying, while some states in the United States have laws against it. Bullying is divided into four basic types of abuse –
psychological (sometimes called emotional or relational),
verbal,
physical, and
cyber
Cyber may refer to:
Computing and the Internet
* ''Cyber-'', from cybernetics, a transdisciplinary approach for exploring regulatory and purposive systems
Crime and security
* Cyber crime, crime that involves computers and networks
** Conventi ...
.
Behaviors used to assert such domination may include physical
assault or coercion, verbal
harassment, or
threat
A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...
, and such acts may be directed repeatedly toward particular targets.
Rationalizations of such behavior sometimes include differences of social class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, behavior, body language, personality, reputation, lineage, strength, size, or ability.
Etymology
The word "
bully" was first used in the 1530s meaning "sweetheart", applied to either sex, from the nl, boel, "lover, brother", probably diminutive of gmh, buole, "brother", of uncertain origin (compare with the German ''buhle'' "lover"). The meaning deteriorated through the 17th century through "fine fellow", "blusterer", to "harasser of the weak". This may have been as a connecting sense between "lover" and "ruffian" as in "protector of a
prostitute", which was one sense of "bully" (though not specifically attested until 1706). The verb "to bully" is first attested in 1710.
In the past, in American culture, the term has been used differently, as an exclamation/exhortation, in particular famously associated with
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and continuing to the present in the
bully pulpit, Roosevelt's
coining and also as faint/deprecating praise ("bully for him").
Types
Bullying has been classified by the body of literature into different types. These can be in the form of nonverbal, verbal, or physical behavior. Another classification is based on perpetrators or the participants involved, so that the types include individual and collective bullying. Other interpretation also cite emotional and relational bullying in addition to physical harm inflicted towards another person or even property. There is also the case of the more recent phenomenon called cyberbullying.
Physical, verbal, and relational bullying are most prevalent in primary school and could also begin much earlier while continuing into later stages in individuals lives.
Individual
Individual bullying tactics are perpetrated by a single person against a victim or victims. Individual bullying can be classified into four types outlined below:
Physical
Physical bullying is any bullying that hurts someone's body or damages their possessions. Stealing, shoving, hitting, fighting, and intentionally destroying someone's property are types of physical bullying. Physical bullying is rarely the first form of bullying that a victim will experience. Often bullying will begin in a different form and later progress to physical violence. In physical bullying the main weapon the bully uses is his/her body, or some part thereof; or an object as a weapon when attacking his/her victim. Sometimes groups of young adults will target and alienate a peer because of some adolescent prejudice. This can quickly lead to a situation where they are being taunted, tortured, and "beaten up" by their classmates. Physical bullying will often escalate over time, and can lead to a detrimental or fatal ending, and therefore many try to stop it quickly to prevent any further escalation.
Verbal
Verbal bullying is one of the most common types of bullying. This is any bullying that is conducted by speaking, other use of the voice, or some form of body language and does not involve any physical contact. Bullying usually begins at this stage and includes any of the following:
*
Derogatory
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
name-calling and
nicknaming
*Spreading rumors or lying about someone
*Threatening someone
*Yelling at or talking to someone in a rude or unkind tone of voice, especially without justifiable cause
*Mocking someone's voice or style of speaking
*Laughing at someone
*Use of
body language
Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...
(i.e., the
middle finger
The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is also calle ...
) to torture someone
*Making insults or otherwise making fun of someone
In verbal bullying, the main weapon the bully uses is voice. In many cases, verbal bullying is common in both genders, but girls are more likely to perform it. Girls, in general, are more subtle with insults than boys. Girls use verbal bullying, as well as social exclusion techniques, to dominate and control other individuals and show their superiority and power, often to try to impress someone they idolize. Many boys are subtle enough to use verbal techniques for domination when they want to avoid the trouble that can come with physically bullying someone else.
Relational
Relational bullying (sometimes referred to as social aggression) is the type of bullying that uses relationships to hurt others. The term also denotes any bullying that is done with the intent to hurt somebody's reputation or social standing which can also link in with the techniques included in physical and verbal bullying. Relational bullying is a form of bullying common among youth, but particularly upon girls. Social exclusion (slighting or making someone feel "left out") is one of the most common types of relational bullying. Relational bullying can be used as a tool by bullies to both improve their social standing and control others. Unlike physical bullying which is obvious, relational bullying is not overt and can continue for a long time without being noticed.
Cyber
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. When an adult is involved, it may meet the definition of cyber-harassment or
cyberstalking
Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, group, or organization. It may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel. It may also include monitoring, identity theft, thre ...
, a crime that can have legal consequences and involve jail time. This includes bullying by use of email, instant messaging, social media websites (such as
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
), text messages, and cell phones. It is stated that Cyberbullying is more common in secondary school than in primary school.
Collective
Collective bullying tactics are employed by more than one individual against a victim or victims. Collective bullying is known as mobbing, and can include any of the individual types of bullying.
Trolling behavior on social media, although generally assumed to be individual in nature by the casual reader, is sometime organized efforts by sponsored
astroturfers.
Mobbing
Mobbing refers to the bullying of an individual by a group, in any context, such as a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
,
peer group
In sociology, a peer group is both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests ( homophily), age, background, or social status. The members of this group are likely to influence the person's beliefs and behaviour.
...
,
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
,
workplace
A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...
,
neighborhood,
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
, or online. When it occurs as
emotion
Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is currently no scientific ...
al
abuse in the workplace, such as "ganging up" by co-workers,
subordinate
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
s or
superiors, to force someone out of the workplace through
rumor
A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...
,
innuendo
An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
,
intimidation
Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...
,
humiliation
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status, either by force or willingly, has just dec ...
,
discrediting
A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It makes use of discrediting tactics.
It can be applied to individual ...
, and
isolation, it is also referred to as malicious, nonsexual, nonracial/racial, general
harassment.
Characteristics
Bullies and accomplices
Studies have shown that
envy
Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.
Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred b ...
and resentment may be motives for bullying.
Research on the self-esteem of bullies has produced equivocal results.
While some bullies are arrogant and narcissistic, they can also use bullying as a tool to conceal shame or anxiety or to boost self-esteem: by demeaning others, the abuser feels empowered. Bullies may bully out of jealousy or because they themselves are bullied. Psychologist
Roy Baumeister
Roy F. Baumeister (; born May 16, 1953) is an American social psychologist who is known for his work on the self, social rejection, belongingness, sexuality and sex differences, self-control, self-esteem, self-defeating behaviors, motivation, ...
asserts that people who are prone to abusive behavior tend to have inflated but fragile egos. Because they think too highly of themselves, they are frequently offended by the criticisms and lack of deference of other people, and react to this disrespect with violence and insults.
Researchers have identified other risk factors such as depression and
personality disorders
Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...
, as well as quickness to anger and use of force, addiction to aggressive behaviors, mistaking others' actions as hostile, concern with preserving
self-image
Self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to an objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, etc.), but also items that h ...
, and engaging in obsessive or rigid actions.
A combination of these factors may also be causes of this behavior. In one study of youth, a combination of antisocial traits and depression was found to be the best predictor of youth violence, whereas video game violence and
television violence
The studies of violence in mass media analyzes the degree of correlation between themes of violence in media sources (particularly violence in video games, television and films) with real-world aggression and violence over time.
Many social scienti ...
exposure were not predictive of these behaviors.
Bullying may also result from a genetic predisposition or a brain abnormality in the bully. While parents can help a toddler develop emotional regulation and control to restrict aggressive behavior, some children fail to develop these skills due to insecure attachment with their families, ineffective discipline, and environmental factors such as a stressful home life and hostile siblings.
Moreover, according to some researchers, bullies may be inclined toward negativity and perform poorly academically. Dr. Cook says, "A typical bully has trouble resolving problems with others and also has trouble academically. He or she usually has negative attitudes and beliefs about others, feels negatively toward himself/herself, comes from a family environment characterized by conflict and poor parenting, perceives school as negative and is negatively influenced by peers."
Contrarily, some researchers have suggested that some bullies are psychologically strongest and have high social standing among their peers, while their targets are emotionally distressed and socially marginalized. Peer groups often promote the bully's actions, and members of these peer groups also engage in behaviors, such as mocking, excluding, punching, and insulting one another as a source of entertainment.
Other researchers also argued that a minority of the bullies, those who are not in-turn bullied, enjoy going to school, and are least likely to take days off sick.
Research indicates that adults who bully have authoritarian personalities, combined with a strong need to control or dominate.
It has also been suggested that a prejudicial view of subordinates can be a particularly strong risk factor.
In a recent study, bullies showed lower school performance-related self-esteem than non-involved students. They also showed higher social self-esteem than victims of traditional bullying.
Brain studies have shown that the section of the brain associated with reward becomes active when bullies are shown a video of someone inflicting pain on another.
Bystanders
Often, bullying takes place in the presence of a large group of relatively uninvolved bystanders. In many cases, it is the bully's ability to create the illusion they have the support of the majority present that instills the fear of "speaking out" in protestation of the bullying activities being observed by the group. Unless the "bully mentality" is effectively challenged in any given group in its early stages, it often becomes an accepted, or supported,
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...
within the group.
Unless action is taken, a "
culture of bullying" is often perpetuated within a group for months, years, or longer.
Bystanders who have been able to establish their own "friendship group" or "support group" have been found to be far more likely to opt to speak out against bullying behavior than those who have not.
In addition to communication of clear expectations that bystanders should intervene and increasing individual
self-efficacy, there is growing research to suggest interventions should build on the foundation that bullying is morally wrong.
Among adults, being a bystander to workplace bullying was linked to depression.
Victims
Dr. Cook says, "A typical victim is likely to be aggressive, lack social skills, think negative thoughts, experience difficulties in solving social problems, come from a negative family, school and community environments and be noticeably rejected and isolated by peers."
Victims often have characteristics such as being physically and mentally weak, as well as being easily distraught emotionally. They may also have physical characteristics that make them easier targets for bullies such as being overweight or having some type of physical deformity. Boys are more likely to be victims of physical bullying while girls are more likely to be bullied indirectly.
Low levels of self-esteem has been identified as a frequent antecedent of bullying victimization. Victims of traditional bullying tend to have lower global, social, body-related, and emotional self-esteem compared to uninvolved students.
Victims of cyberbullying, on the other hand, may not have lower self-esteem scores than uninvolved students but might have higher body-related self-esteem than both victims of traditional bullying and bullies.
It has also been shown that victims are more likely to employ self-defeating or self-deprecating humor intended to entertain others at the expense of themselves and their own feelings.
The results of a
meta-analysis
A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Meta-analyses can be performed when there are multiple scientific studies addressing the same question, with each individual study reporting me ...
conducted by Cook and published by the
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
in 2010 concluded the main risk factors for children and adolescents being bullied, and also for becoming bullies, are the lack of
social problem-solving skills.
Children who are bullied often show physical or emotional signs, such as: being afraid to attend school, complaining of headaches or a loss of appetite, a lack of interest in school activities, spending time with friends or family, reluctance to go out in public for fear they may encounter their bullies in public places other than school, and having an overall sense of sadness.
Effects
Mona O'Moore of the Anti-Bullying Centre at Trinity College in Dublin, has written, "There is a growing body of research which indicates that individuals, whether child or adult, who are persistently subjected to abusive behavior are at risk of stress related illness which can sometimes lead to
suicide"
Those who have been the targets of bullying can develop long-term emotional and behavioral problems. Bullying can cause
loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack ...
,
depression,
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
, lead to low
self-esteem and increased susceptibility to illness.
Bullying has also been shown to cause maladjustment in young children, and targets of bullying who were also bullies themselves exhibit even greater social difficulties.
A mental health report also found that bullying was linked to eating disorders, anxiety, body dysmorphia and other negative psychological effects. Both victims and perpetrators have been shown to exhibit higher levels of loneliness.
Suicide
Even though there is evidence that bullying increases the risk of suicide, bullying alone does not cause suicide.
Depression is one of the main reasons why kids who are bullied die by suicide. It is estimated that between 15 and 25 children die by suicide every year in the UK alone because they are being bullied. Certain groups seem to incur a higher risk for suicide, such as
Native Americans,
Alaskan Native
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numb ...
s,
Asian Americans, and
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
people. When someone feels unsupported by family or friends, it can make the situation much worse for the victim.
In a self-report study completed in New York by 9th through 12th graders, victims of bullying reported more depressive symptoms and psychological distress than those who did not experience bullying. All types of involvement in bullying among both boys and girls is associated with depression even a couple years later.
Another study that followed up with Finnish teens two years after the initial survey showed that depression and suicidal ideation is higher with teens who are bullied than those who did not report experiencing bullying.
A Dutch longitudinal study on elementary students reported that boys who are bully-victims, who play both roles of a victim and a bully, were more likely to experience depression or serious suicidal ideation than the other roles, victims or bullies only, while girls who have any involvement in bullying have a higher level of risk for depression.
In a study of high school students completed in Boston, students who self reported being victims of bullying were more likely to consider suicide when compared to youth who did not report being bullied.
The same study also showed a higher risk of suicidal consideration in youth who report being a perpetrator, victim, or victim-perpetrator. Victims and victim-bullies are associated with a higher risk of suicide attempts. The place where youth live also appears to differentiate their bullying experiences such that those living in more urban areas who reported both being bullied and bullying others appear to show higher risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.
A national survey given to American 6th through 10th grade students found that cyberbullying victims experience a higher level of depression than victims experiencing other forms of bullying. This can be related to the anonymity behind social media. If a teen is being bullied and is displaying symptoms of depression it should be questioned and interventions should be implemented.
The Danish study showed that kids who are bullied talked to their parents and teachers about it and some reported a decrease in bullying or a stop in the bullying after a teacher or parent intervened. The study emphasizes the importance of implementing program-collaborations in schools to have programs and anti-bullying interventions in place to prevent and properly intervene when it occurs.
The study also shows the importance of having parents and teachers talk to the bullies about their bullying behavior in order to provide the necessary support for those experiencing bullying.
While some people find it very easy to ignore a bully, others may find it very difficult and reach a breaking point. There have been cases of apparent bullying suicides that have been reported closely by the media. These include the deaths of
Ryan Halligan,
Phoebe Prince,
Dawn-Marie Wesley,
Nicola Ann Raphael,
Megan Meier
Megan Taylor Meier (November 6, 1992 – October 17, 2006) was an American teenager who died by suicide by hanging herself three weeks before her 14th birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her sui ...
,
Audrie Pott,
Tyler Clementi
Tyler Clementi (December 19, 1991 – September 22, 2010) was an American student at Rutgers University–New Brunswick who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River at the age of 18, on September 22, 2010. On S ...
,
Jamey Rodemeyer,
Kenneth Weishuhn,
Jadin Bell,
Kelly Yeomans,
Rehtaeh Parsons,
Amanda Todd,
Brodie Panlock,
Jessica Haffer,
Hamed Nastoh,
Sladjana Vidovic, April Himes, Cherice Moralez and
Rebecca Ann Sedwick. According to the suicide awareness voices for education, suicide is one of the leading causes of death for youth from 15 to 24 years old. Over 16 percent of students seriously consider suicide, 13 percent create a plan, and 8 percent have made a serious attempt.
Strength and wisdom
Some have argued that bullying can teach life lessons and instill strength. Helene Guldberg, a child development academic, sparked controversy when she argued that being a target of bullying can teach a child "how to manage disputes and boost their ability to interact with others", and that teachers should not intervene but leave children to respond to the bullying themselves. Others, however, have pointed out that this is only true for normal peer conflicts but not for bullying cases.
The teaching of anti-bullying coping skills to children, carers and teachers has been found to be an effective long-term means of reducing bullying incidence rates and a valuable skill-set for individuals.
Testosterone production
Statistically controlling for age and pubertal status, results indicated that on average verbally bullied girls produced less testosterone, and verbally bullied boys produced more testosterone than their nonbullied counterparts.
Dark triad
Research on the dark triad (
narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
Narcissism exists on a co ...
,
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism or Machiavellian may refer to:
Politics
*Machiavellianism (politics), the supposed political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli
*Political realism
Psychology
*Machiavellianism (psychology), a personality trait centered on cold an ...
, and
psychopathy
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have bee ...
) indicate a correlation with bullying as part of evidence of the aversive nature of those traits.
Projection
A bully may project his/her own feelings of vulnerability onto the target(s) of the bullying activity. Despite the fact that a bully's typically denigrating activities are aimed at the bully's targets, the true source of such negativity is ultimately almost always found in the bully's own sense of personal insecurity and/or vulnerability. Such aggressive projections of displaced negative emotions can occur anywhere from the micro-level of interpersonal relationships, all the way up through to the macro-level of international politics, or even international armed conflict.
[Carl G. Jung ed., ''Man and his Symbols'' (London 1978) p.181–2]
Emotional intelligence
Bullying is abusive social interaction between peers which can include aggression, harassment, and violence. Bullying is typically repetitive and enacted by those who are in a position of
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
over the victim. A growing body of research illustrates a significant relationship between bullying and
emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EI) is most often defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. People with high emotional intelligence can emotion recognition, recognize their own emotions and those of others, use em ...
(EI).
Mayer et al., (2008) defines the dimensions of overall EI as "accurately perceiving emotion, using emotions to facilitate thought, understanding emotion, and managing emotion". The concept combines emotional and intellectual processes.
Lower emotional intelligence appears to be related to involvement in bullying, as the bully and/or the victim of bullying. EI seems to play an important role in both bullying behavior and
victimization
Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology.
Peer victimisation
Peer victimisat ...
in bullying; given that EI is illustrated to be malleable, EI education could greatly improve bullying prevention and intervention initiatives.
Context
Internet
Cyberbullying is any bullying done through the use of technology. This form of bullying can easily go undetected because of lack of authoritative (including parental) supervision. Because bullies can pose as someone else, it is the most anonymous form of bullying. Cyberbullying includes abuse using email, instant messaging, text messaging, websites, and social networking sites.
Particular watchdog organizations have been designed to contain the spread of cyberbullying.
Disability
Disabled people are disproportionately affected by bullying and abuse, and such activity has been cited as a
hate crime.
The bullying is not limited to those who are visibly disabled, such as wheelchair users or physically deformed such as those with a cleft lip, but also those with developmental disabilities such as
autism and
developmental coordination disorder
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as developmental motor coordination disorder, developmental dyspraxia or simply dyspraxia from the word 'praxis' meaning to do or act, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaire ...
.
There is an additional problem that those with learning disabilities are often not as able to explain things to other people, so are more likely to be disbelieved or ignored if they do complain.
Homosexuality
Gay bullying and gay bashing designate direct or indirect
verbal or
physical actions by a person or group against someone who is gay or lesbian, or perceived to be so due to rumors or because they are considered to fit gay stereotypes. Gay and lesbian youth are more likely than straight youth to report bullying, as well as be bullied.
Law
Legal bullying is the bringing of a
vexatious legal action to control and punish a person. Legal bullying can often take the form of frivolous, repetitive, or burdensome lawsuits brought to intimidate the defendant into submitting to the litigant's request, not because of the legal merit of the litigant's position, but principally due to the defendant's inability to maintain the legal battle. This can also take the form of
Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). It was partially concern about the potential for this kind of abuse that helped to fuel the
protests against SOPA and PIPA
On January 18, 2012, a series of coordinated protests occurred against two proposed laws in the United States Congress—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). These followed smaller protests in late 2011. Protests we ...
in the United States in 2011 and 2012.
Military
In 2000, the UK
Ministry of Defence (MOD) defined bullying as "the use of physical strength or the
abuse of authority
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
to intimidate or victimize others, or to give unlawful punishments".
Some argue that this behaviour should be allowed, due to ways in which "soldiering" is different from other occupations. Soldiers expected to risk their lives should, according to them, develop strength of body and spirit to accept bullying.
Parenting
Parents who may
displace their anger, insecurity, or a persistent need to dominate and
control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
upon their children in excessive ways have been proven to increase the likelihood that their own children will in turn become overly aggressive or controlling towards their peers.
The
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
advises on its website that parents who may suspect their own children may be engaging in bullying activities among their peers should carefully consider the examples which they themselves may be setting for their own children regarding how they typically interact with their own peers, colleagues, and children.
Prison
The prison environment is known for bullying. An additional complication is the staff and their relationships with the inmates. Thus, the following possible bullying scenarios are possible:
* Inmate bullies inmate (echoing school bullying)
* Staff bullies inmate
* Staff bullies staff (a manifestation of workplace bullying)
* Inmate bullies staff
School
![CDC DASH anti-bullying PSA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/CDC_DASH_anti-bullying_PSA.jpg)
It is important to distinguish school bullying that per definition has the goal of harming the victim from normal peer conflict that is an inherent part of everyday school life and often promotes social development. Unlike normal conflict, bullying is a systematic and repeated abuse committed intentionally by another student who has more power (physical, social, or otherwise).
Bullying can occur in nearly any part in or around the school building, although it may occur more frequently during physical education classes and activities such as recess. Bullying also takes place in school hallways, bathrooms, on school buses and while waiting for buses, and in classes that require group work and/or after school activities. Bullying in school sometimes consists of a group of students taking advantage of or isolating one student in particular and gaining the loyalty of bystanders who want to avoid becoming the next target. In the 2011 documentary
''Bully'', we see first hand the torture that kids go through both in school and while on the school bus. As the movie follows around a few kids we see how bullying affects them both at school as well as in their homes. While bullying has no age limit, these bullies may taunt and tease their target before finally physically bullying them. Bystanders typically choose to either participate or watch, sometimes out of fear of becoming the next target.
Teachers play an important role in bullying prevention and intervention because they are the adults who spend most of their time with the students.
Bullying can, however, also be perpetrated by teachers and the school system itself; there is an inherent power differential in the system that can easily predispose to subtle or covert abuse (
relational aggression
Relational aggression or alternative aggressionSimmons, Rachel (2002). ''Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls''. New York, New York: Mariner Books. pp. 8–9. . Retrieved 2016-11-02. is a type of aggression in which harm is cause ...
or
passive aggression
Passive-aggressive behavior is characterized by a pattern of passive hostility and an avoidance of direct communication. Inaction where some action is socially customary is a typical passive-aggressive strategy (showing up late for functions, st ...
),
humiliation
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status, either by force or willingly, has just dec ...
, or exclusion—even while maintaining overt commitments to anti-bullying policies.
In 2016, in Canada, a North American legal precedent was set by a mother and her son, after the son was bullied in his public school. The mother and son won a court case against the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, making this the first case in North America where a school board has been found negligent in a bullying case for failing to meet the standard of care (the "duty of care" that the school board owes to its students). Thus, it sets a precedent of a school board being found liable in negligence for harm caused to a child, because they failed to protect a child from the bullying actions of other students. There has been only one other similar bullying case and it was won in Australia in 2013 (''Oyston v. St. Patricks College'', 2013).
Heterosexuality
Sexual bullying is "any bullying behaviour, whether physical or non-physical, that is based on a person's sexuality or gender. It is when sexuality or gender is used as a weapon by boys or girls towards other boys or girls – although it is more commonly directed at girls. It can be carried out to a person's face, behind their back or through the use of technology."
Transsexuality
Trans bashing is the act of
victimizing
Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology.
Peer victimisation
Peer victimisati ...
a person physically, sexually, or verbally because they are
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
or
transsexual
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignmen ...
. Unlike
gay bashing
Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It includes both violence against LGBT people and LGBT bullying. The term covers vio ...
, it is committed because of the target's actual or perceived
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...
, not
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
.
Work
Workplace bullying occurs when an employee experiences a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes harm. Workplace bullying can include such tactics as
verbal,
nonverbal
Nonverbal communication (NVC) is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and body language. It includes the use of social cues, kinesics, distance (proxemi ...
,
psychological,
physical abuse and
humiliation
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status, either by force or willingly, has just dec ...
. This type of
workplace aggression
Workplace aggression is a specific type of aggression which occurs in the workplace. Workplace aggression can include a wide range of behaviors, ranging from verbal acts (e.g., insulting someone or spreading rumors) to physical attacks (e.g., punch ...
is particularly difficult because, unlike the typical forms of
school bullying
School bullying, like bullying outside the school context, refers to one or more perpetrators who have greater physical strength or more social power than their victim repeatedly by acting aggressively toward their victim. Bullying can be verb ...
, workplace bullies often operate within the established rules and policies of their organization and their society. Bullying in the workplace is in the majority of cases reported as having been perpetrated by someone in authority over the target. Bullies can also be peers, and occasionally can be subordinates.
The first known documented use of "workplace bullying" is in 1992 in a book by
Andrea Adams called ''Bullying at Work: How to Confront and Overcome It''.
Research has also investigated the impact of the larger organizational context on bullying as well as the group-level processes that impact on the incidence, and maintenance of bullying behavior. Bullying can be covert or overt. It may be missed by superiors or known by many throughout the organization. Negative effects are not limited to the targeted individuals, and may lead to a decline in
employee morale
Employee morale or workspace morale is the morale of employees in workspace environment. It is proven to have a direct effect on productivity.
History
Long used by the military as a "mission-critical" measure of the psychological readiness of tr ...
and a change in
organizational culture.
A
Cochrane Collaboration
Cochrane (previously known as the Cochrane Collaboration) is a British international charitable organisation formed to organise medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions involving health profess ...
systematic review has found very low quality
evidence to suggest that organizational and individual interventions may prevent bullying behaviors in the workplace.
Academia
Bullying in academia is workplace bullying of scholars and staff in academia, especially places of higher education such as colleges and universities. It is believed to be common, although has not received as much attention from researchers as bullying in some other contexts.
Blue-collar jobs
Bullying has been identified as prominent in blue-collar jobs, including on oil rigs and in mechanic shops and machine shops. It is thought that intimidation and fear of retribution cause decreased incident reports. In industry sectors dominated by males, typically of little education, where disclosure of incidents are seen as effeminate, reporting in the socioeconomic and cultural milieu of such industries would likely lead to a
vicious circle. This is often used in combination with
manipulation and
coercion of facts to gain favour among higher-ranking
administrators
Administrator or admin may refer to:
Job roles Computing and internet
* Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database
* Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum
* ...
.
Information technology
A culture of bullying is common in information technology (IT), leading to high sickness rates, low morale, poor productivity, and high staff-turnover. Deadline-driven project work and stressed-out managers take their toll on IT workers.
Courts
Bullying in the
legal profession
Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first obtain a law degree or some other form of legal education.
It is difficult to ...
is believed to be more common than in some other professions. It is believed that its adversarial, hierarchical tradition contributes towards this. Women, trainees and solicitors who have been qualified for five years or less are more affected, as are ethnic minority lawyers and lesbian, gay and bisexual lawyers.
Medicine
Bullying in the
medical profession
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
is common, particularly of student or trainee doctors and of nurses. It is thought that this is at least in part an outcome of conservative traditional hierarchical structures and teaching methods in the medical profession, which may result in a bullying cycle.
Even though The
American Nurses Association
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is b ...
believes that all nursing personnel have the right to work in safe, non-abusive environments, bullying has been identified as being particularly prevalent in the nursing profession although the reasons are not clear. It is thought that relational aggression (psychological aspects of bullying such as gossiping and intimidation) are relevant. Relational aggression has been studied among girls but not so much among adult women.
Teaching
School
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
teachers
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...
are commonly the subject of bullying but they are also sometimes the originators of bullying within a school environment.
Machines
Children have been observed bullying anthropomorphic robots designed to assist the elderly. Their attacks start with blocking the robots' paths of movement and then escalate to verbal abuse, hitting and destroying the object. Seventy-five percent of the kids interviewed perceived the robot as "human-like" yet decided to abuse it anyway, while 35% of the kids who beat up the robot did so "for enjoyment".
Prevention
Bullying prevention is the collective effort to prevent, reduce and stop bullying. Many campaigns and events are designated to bullying prevention throughout the world. Bullying prevention campaigns and events include
Anti-Bullying Day
Anti-Bullying Day (or Pink Shirt Day) is an annual event, held in Canada and other parts of the world, where people wear a pink-coloured shirt to stand against bullying.
The initiative was started in Canada, where it is held on the last Wednes ...
,
Anti-Bullying Week,
International Day of Pink
The International Day of Pink is a worldwide anti-bullying and anti-homophobia event held annually during the second week of April. Though similar to Pink Shirt Day (held in February) in that it also seeks to end all bullying, the Day of Pink is ...
,
International STAND UP to Bullying Day
International STAND UP to Bullying Day is a special semi-annual event in which participants sign and wear a pink "pledge shirt" to take a visible, public stance against bullying. The event takes place in schools, workplaces, and organizations in 2 ...
and
National Bullying Prevention Month
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
.
Anti-bullying laws in the U.S. have also been enacted in 23 of its 50 states, making bullying in schools illegal.
Responses
Bullying is typically ongoing and not isolated behaviour. Common responses are to try to ignore it, to confront the bullies, or to turn to an authority figure.
Ignoring it often does nothing to stop the bullying continuing, and it can become worse over time.
It can be important to address bullying behaviour early on, as it can be easier to control the earlier it is detected.
Bystanders play an important role in responding to bullying, as doing nothing can encourage it to continue, while small steps that oppose the behaviour can reduce it.
Authority figures can play an important role, such as parents or teachers in child or adolescent situations, or supervisors, human-resources staff or parent-bodies in workplace and volunteer settings. In the school context, teachers who set clear boundaries, communicate seriously that bullying behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, and involve school administrators have been shown to reduce bullying. Discussing bullying and its consequences with the whole class is also an important intervention that not only reduces bullying, but also encourages other students to step in and stop bullying even before it reaches its full form. In general, authority figures can be influential in recognising and stopping bullying behaviour, and creating an environment that does not encourage or promote bullying.
In many situations, authority figures are untrained and unqualified, do not know how to respond, and can make the situation worse.
In some cases the authority figures even support the people doing the bullying, facilitating it continuing and increasing the isolation and marginalising of the target.
"Responding to bullying in Arc UNSW sports"
/ref>
Some of the most effective ways to respond are to recognise that harmful behaviour is taking place, and to create an environment where it will not continue.[E. Field]
"The prevalence of workplace bullying in Australia"
/ref>
See also
References
Further reading
* Kohut MR The Complete Guide to Understanding, Controlling, and Stopping Bullies & Bullying: A Complete Guide for Teachers & Parents (2007)
* ''Bullies and Victims in Schools: a guide to understanding and management'' by Valerie E. Besag (1989)
* ''The Fight That Never Ends'' by Tim Brown
* ''Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls" by Rachel Simmons
* ''Bullycide, Death at Playtime'' by Neil Marr and Tim Field
Tim Field (24 April 1952 in Eastbourne – 15 January 2006) was a British anti- bullying activist with his main focus relating to workplace bullying. He was the author of two books. In 2011, Field and a journalist Neil Marr coined the term " bul ...
* ''Bullycide in America: Moms Speak Out about the Bullying/Suicide Connection'' – by Brenda High
Bullycide.org
''A Journey Out of Bullying: From Despair to Hope''
by Patricia L. Scott
* "Peer Abuse Know More! Bullying From A Psychological Perspective" By Elizabeth Bennett
* ''New Perspectives on Bullying'' by Ken Rigby
* Garbarino, J. & de Lara, E. (2003)
''And Words ''Can'' Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents from Bullying, Harassment, and Emotional Violence.''
The Free Press: New York NY.
* Joanne Scaglione, Arrica Rose Scaglion
''Bully-proofing children: a practical, hands-on guide to stop bullying'' 2006
''Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Me: A Guide to Handling Bullies for Young People.''
by Terrence Webster-Doyle. Book and Teaching curriculum.
by Paul Graham. This essay is an example of how even medium differences, in a hierarchical, zero-sum, or negative environments, can lead to ostracism or persecution.
* ''Lord of the Flies
''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...
'' by William Golding (1954). A famous work describing how a group of schoolboys trapped on an island descends into savagery.
External links
*
Citizens Advice in the UK
Bullying. No Way! (Australian Education Authorities)
Bullying in schools (UK – schools)
U.S. Department of Education's Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
Bully Online
{{Authority control
Abuse
Aggression
Injustice
Persecution
Psychological abuse
Interpersonal conflict