Bullying – Notes
1. What is bullying
A. STATS
- Annual Bullying Survery (2019): 22% of participants identified as having been bullied
during; (9%) of these were bullied every day. 62% were bullied by a classmate and
37% by someone at school they didn’t know. 45% of young people who have been
bullied experience depression, 41% experience social anxiety and 33% have suicidal
thoughts. [s.t.: 10 times higher figure than the general population]2% of those who
have been bullied go on to bully. 24% are worried about getting abuse online. 31%
experienced VERBAL bullying, 68% physical assault; 74% cyber bullying. 72%
reported it & 28% did not (scared it gets worse/ embarrassed). (10-20-year olds in UK)
- Guasp, 2012: more than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people reported
experiencing homophobic bullying in Britain’s schools. This is also rep. by teachers:
86% of secondary school teachers and 45% of primary school teachers surveyed said
pupils in their schools had experienced homophobic bullying.
- Global survey run by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) indicated 29% of secondary school headteachers in England said bullying
occurred at least weekly amongst students – 4th highest out of 48 countries surveyed.
B. DEFINITION
- The definition usually includes three important components: (1) bullying is
aggressive behaviour that involves unwanted, negative actions. (2) bullying involves a
pattern of behaviour repeated over time; (3) bullying involves an imbalance of power
or strength; thus, the key features are an imbalance of power, intentionality and
repeated over time. NO legal definition of bullying.
Examples:
- Rigby, 1996: Bullying is the repeated oppression, psychological or physical, of a less
powerful person by a more powerful person or group of persons.
- Volk, Dane & Marini, 2014: Aggressive goal-directed behaviour that harms an
individual within the context of a power imbalance Volk, Dane & Marini, 2014)
, - Olweus, 1993: A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over
time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons and he or she has
difficulty defending himself or herself.
C. TYPES OF BULLYING
l physical - hitting, kicking, taking belongings
l verbal - name calling, insulting, making offensive remarks
l indirect - spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups,
being made the subject of malicious rumors, sending malicious emails or text
messages on mobile phones (cyberbullying)
- by integrating the Social Dominance theory (Hawker and Boulton, 2001) in the
mechanisms of this phenomenon, we have:
u physical – has to do with resource-holding potential
u verbal – can be related to social attention and holding power
u indirect/relational- has to do with affiliative relationships and controlling a sense
of belonging
- Cyberbullying: Some argue that children involved in face to face bullying are the
same as those involved in cyberbullying. Others draw clear distinctions and argue that
there are considerable differences [e.g. motivational. Risks involved in being caught,
increased breadth of audience, pervasive & difficult to escape from.]. Hugely topical
area and one which would benefit from much more research in order to identify
whether there are unique characteristics, or the behavior is an extension of traditional
concept of bullying.
- DCSF, 2007: info on the anonymity of the cyberbully VS a traditional bully. (consider
in terms of how we respond) The lack of immediate feedback from the victim provides
less opportunity for either party to resolve the misunderstanding. It is also more likely
to take place across different age groups [e.g.: school children targeting a teacher].
The number of potential bystanders and the ease with which bystanders can become
perpetrators by passing on/showing others. Omnipresent – nowhere is safe; difficult to
withdraw from it, stop or control. In these situations, the power dynamics may
change, as people with lower power in day to day life may use the anonymity in order
to do this.
1. What is bullying
A. STATS
- Annual Bullying Survery (2019): 22% of participants identified as having been bullied
during; (9%) of these were bullied every day. 62% were bullied by a classmate and
37% by someone at school they didn’t know. 45% of young people who have been
bullied experience depression, 41% experience social anxiety and 33% have suicidal
thoughts. [s.t.: 10 times higher figure than the general population]2% of those who
have been bullied go on to bully. 24% are worried about getting abuse online. 31%
experienced VERBAL bullying, 68% physical assault; 74% cyber bullying. 72%
reported it & 28% did not (scared it gets worse/ embarrassed). (10-20-year olds in UK)
- Guasp, 2012: more than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people reported
experiencing homophobic bullying in Britain’s schools. This is also rep. by teachers:
86% of secondary school teachers and 45% of primary school teachers surveyed said
pupils in their schools had experienced homophobic bullying.
- Global survey run by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) indicated 29% of secondary school headteachers in England said bullying
occurred at least weekly amongst students – 4th highest out of 48 countries surveyed.
B. DEFINITION
- The definition usually includes three important components: (1) bullying is
aggressive behaviour that involves unwanted, negative actions. (2) bullying involves a
pattern of behaviour repeated over time; (3) bullying involves an imbalance of power
or strength; thus, the key features are an imbalance of power, intentionality and
repeated over time. NO legal definition of bullying.
Examples:
- Rigby, 1996: Bullying is the repeated oppression, psychological or physical, of a less
powerful person by a more powerful person or group of persons.
- Volk, Dane & Marini, 2014: Aggressive goal-directed behaviour that harms an
individual within the context of a power imbalance Volk, Dane & Marini, 2014)
, - Olweus, 1993: A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over
time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons and he or she has
difficulty defending himself or herself.
C. TYPES OF BULLYING
l physical - hitting, kicking, taking belongings
l verbal - name calling, insulting, making offensive remarks
l indirect - spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups,
being made the subject of malicious rumors, sending malicious emails or text
messages on mobile phones (cyberbullying)
- by integrating the Social Dominance theory (Hawker and Boulton, 2001) in the
mechanisms of this phenomenon, we have:
u physical – has to do with resource-holding potential
u verbal – can be related to social attention and holding power
u indirect/relational- has to do with affiliative relationships and controlling a sense
of belonging
- Cyberbullying: Some argue that children involved in face to face bullying are the
same as those involved in cyberbullying. Others draw clear distinctions and argue that
there are considerable differences [e.g. motivational. Risks involved in being caught,
increased breadth of audience, pervasive & difficult to escape from.]. Hugely topical
area and one which would benefit from much more research in order to identify
whether there are unique characteristics, or the behavior is an extension of traditional
concept of bullying.
- DCSF, 2007: info on the anonymity of the cyberbully VS a traditional bully. (consider
in terms of how we respond) The lack of immediate feedback from the victim provides
less opportunity for either party to resolve the misunderstanding. It is also more likely
to take place across different age groups [e.g.: school children targeting a teacher].
The number of potential bystanders and the ease with which bystanders can become
perpetrators by passing on/showing others. Omnipresent – nowhere is safe; difficult to
withdraw from it, stop or control. In these situations, the power dynamics may
change, as people with lower power in day to day life may use the anonymity in order
to do this.
