Social bullying is a social scourge that marks the lives of our children and young people, both in the case of the victim and the aggressor. The psychological traumas that these experiences generate in harassed people must be made visible to become aware of the seriousness of the matter and adopt the appropriate measures to end this drama.
In this Psychology-Online article we will talk to you about What is social bullying, its characteristics, the types of bullying, the causes that generate it, the consequences it causes and how to prevent it.
What is social bullying
He social bullying It is also called social bullying and is a form of violence that occurs in a social situation in which one or more schoolchildren target another and make them the object of their aggressive behavior for a prolonged period of time.
During this period, the child who is the victim of bullying is subjected to physical attacks, harassment, threats and social isolation or exclusion. It is a perverse game of unjustified aggression that, when prolonged over time, causes psychological deterioration in the victim of aggression and moral deterioration in the aggressor.
Characteristics of social bullying
In general terms, we can talk about three basic characteristics of social bullying that are defined by three parameters:
- Main roles: social bullying occurs towards a defenseless victim by a main aggressor accompanied by several spectators who encourage or directly participate in the attacks.
- power relationship: There is an evident inequality of power that pits several physically, psychologically and/or socially strong aggressors against a weak victim.
- Persistence over time: This perverse relationship of dominance-submission occurs constantly and repeatedly over a long period of time.
Types of social bullying
can we talk about four types bullying mains:
- Physical: It can be direct against the person (hit, push, etc.) or indirect, against some of their properties (steal, break, etc.).
- Verbal: mockery, insults, contempt, etc.
- Psychological: use negative and belittling speech that undermines the victim’s self-esteem and increases their fear and insecurity. In many cases, bullying generates an internal trauma in the bullied person that can accompany him for the rest of his life (if he does not face it, ask for help and treat it) and that will cause a generalization of said fear to other situations in his daily life.
- Social: the victim is isolated from his or her social reference group.
- Cyberbullying, where different technologies and social networks are used to make attacks public. Here you will find more information about .
- dating violence: It would fall under cyberbullying but, in this case, it would refer to the emotional blackmail that is carried out between couples of teenagers, with the threat of publishing private information. In this case we could talk about a variant of gender violence. Here you can read more about.
The common characteristic of all these types of harassment is the fear and psychological drama that the different experiences cause in the victim.
Causes of social bullying
Regarding the causes that cause social bullying, we could talk about two types:
Contextual causes of social bullying
- Family: It is the main and most important context in which people socialize and lay the foundations for what will be their subsequent physical, emotional and social adjustment.
- School: It is the second most relevant context for the socialization and healthy development of children, so the type of experience and care given to children will also determine the possibility of suffering bullying or acting as an aggressor.
- Economic and cultural partner: the social micro-context in which we operate can condition our position as aggressors, victims or as a preventative of bullying. A social group that protects against a group that incites violence (cases of aggressors) or not having any reference group (victims); Living with and/or suffering sexist or discriminatory attitudes for any reason of race or social condition also positions us in one place or another; etc
- Pregnancy: It is an important aspect to highlight since the intrauterine experience is the first determining factor in a person’s subsequent mental health. In the case of both the victim and the aggressor, unpleasant or traumatic experiences during pregnancy can predispose to weak or impulsive personalities, paving the way for a future experience of bullying on one side or the other.
Personal causes of social bullying
- From the victim: These are people with an insecure foundation and a high degree of introversion, which causes them difficulties in creating and maintaining positive social relationships.
- From the aggressor: These are people with an impulsive temperament and a very low tolerance for frustration, which encourages them to carry out aggressive behaviors as a way of releasing their excess internal discomfort.
In both cases, they are people with weak structural bases of personality that push them, as a means of survival, to adopt opposite behaviors that inevitably end up uniting them: hiding and fleeing, in the case of the victim, and attacking and unloading on the weak, in the case of the aggressor.
Consequences of social bullying
Bullying is a situation of mistreatment that generates terrible consequences on the victimfor example:
- Low academic performance and/or.
- and assertiveness.
- Social isolation and loneliness.
- Poor or non-existent social relationships.
- Rejection of school.
- Anger and, at the same time, terror.
- Somatizations (insomnia, ennuresis and physical pain) and symptoms that can persist into adulthood.
- .
- Poor emotional intelligence.
Simultaneously, experiencing this negative situation of harassment also generates very negative consequences of social maladjustment in the aggressor and fear and insecurity in the bystanders.
Here you will find more information about .
How to prevent social bullying
The best prevention of bullying is to ensure secure affective-emotional base to boys and girls from the family and reinforced by the school. However, and taking into account the current potential dangers of suffering from this type of bullying in children and adolescents, it is essential that family and school work together to care for, protect and inform children and adolescents about the dangers of being bullied.
Encourage open communication between family members; worry about the personal life of students, from school; encourage them to ask for help in case of suffering any type of abuse and to report anonymously if you witness it; etc These are some of the most important measures to implement to definitively prevent this social scourge.
If you are suffering from bullying or know someone who is, ask your family, classmates and teachers for help or report the situation. There are many professionals who can help you overcome the situation and regain personal confidence. Stop hiding, you deserve a better life! Here you will see.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Social bullying: what it is, types and how to prevent itwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Oñederra, JA (2008) Bullying: Concept, causes, consequences, theories and epistemological studies.
- Barron, G. Social bullying.
- Molla, A. Sequence of bullying that can last a lifetime.