Bullying is the use of force,
threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. The
behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception,
by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power, which
distinguishes bullying from conflict (Juvonen, J., Graham, S., 2014).
Behaviors used to assert such
domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or
coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets.
Rationalizations for such behavior sometimes include differences of social
class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, behavior, body
language, personality, reputation, lineage, strength, size or ability. If
bullying is done by a group, it is called mobbing (Davenport, Schwartz, Elliott. 1999).
Bullying can be defined in many
different ways. The UK has no legal definition of bullying, while some U.S. states
have laws against it. Bullying is divided into four basic types of abuse –
emotional (sometimes called relational), verbal, physical, and cyber. It
typically involves subtle methods of coercion, such as intimidation (Brank,
Hoetger, and Hazen. December, 2012).
Bullying ranges from simple
one-on-one bullying to more complex bullying in which the bully may have one or
more "lieutenants" who may seem to be willing to assist the primary
bully in his or her bullying activities. Bullying in school and the workplace
is also referred to as peer abuse
(Elizabeth Bennett, January 2006). Robert W. Fuller has analyzed
bullying in the context of rankism.
A bullying culture can develop in
any context in which humans interact with each other. This includes school, family,
the workplace, home, and neighborhoods. In a 2012 study of male adolescent
American football players, "the strongest predictor was the perception of
whether the most influential male in a player's life would approve of the
bullying behavior." (Steinfeldt, Vaughan, LaFollette, Steinfeldt, Matthew
C. October 2012)
Bullying may be defined as the
activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another individual,
physically, mentally or emotionally. Bullying is characterized by an individual
behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person. It can be
classified into four types (Berger, 2014) :
- Physical (hitting, punching, or kicking)
- Verbal (name-calling or taunting)
- Relational (destroying peer acceptance and friendships)
- Cyber-bullying (using electronic means to harm others)
1. Physical, verbal, and relational
bullying are most prevalent in primary school and could also begin much
earlier. Cyber-bullying is more common in secondary school than in primary
school (Berger, 2014). Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus says bullying occurs
when a person is "exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions
on the part of one or more other persons". He says negative actions occur
"when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another
person, through physical contact, through words or in other ways."
The word "bully" was
first used in the 1530s meaning "sweetheart", applied to either sex,
from the Dutch boel "lover, brother", probably diminutive of Middle
High German 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 (Douglas Harper, 2013).
Dr. Cook says that "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" (Cook, Clayton. 2010). Victims often have characteristics
such as being physically 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
(Vanderbilt and Augustyn,. 2010).
The results of a meta-analysis
conducted by Cook and published by the American Psychological Association 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 ( Cook, Clayton. 2010).
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 and spending time with friends or family, and having an overall
sense of sadness.
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 suffer from long term emotional and behavioral
problems. Bullying can cause loneliness, depression, anxiety, 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
(Arsenault, et al. July, 2006).
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 commit
suicide (Kim and Leventhal, 2008). It is
estimated that between 15 and 25 children commit suicide every year in the UK
alone because they are being bullied. Certain attributes of a person are correlated
to a higher risk for suicide than others such as: American Indian, Alaskan
Native, Asian American, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. When someone is
unsupported by his or her family or friends, it can make the situation much
worse for the victim.
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 (Tanya, 2009).
A few studies have pointed up some
potentially positive outcomes from bullying behavior. These studies have found
that with some individuals, as a result of their having been targeted with
bullying behavior, this certain minority of former bullying "targets"
have actually experienced being "enabled" through their experiences
with bullying to develop various coping strategies, which included
"standing up for themselves" in ways which acted to
"re-balance" former imbalances of power. Such former bullying targets
have reported such things as "becoming a better person" as a result
of their former bullying ordeals. The teaching of such anti-bullying coping
skills to "would-be-targets" and to others has been found to be an
effective long term means of reducing bullying incidence rates and a valuable
skill-set for individuals.
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