Distressed Bullies, Social Positioning and Odd Victims: Young People's Explanations of Bullying

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate to what degree teenagers agree with bullying explanation statements that could be categorised as the odd victim explanation, bully's social positioning explanation, or the distressed bully explanation. A second aim was to investigate how these types of bullying explanations might be associated with gender and self‐reported prior bullying roles. Three hundred and fifty teenagers, attending three upper secondary schools in a medium‐sized Swedish town, completed a questionnaire. Although the teenagers were prone to agree with all three types of bullying explanations, they were more inclined to think that bullying occurs because the bully wants power or status. Girls were more inclined than boys to think that bullying takes place because the bullies have their own problems. The more the teenagers thought that bullying occurs because the victims are odd, different or deviant, the more they have been involved in bullying situations as bullies or reinforcers. The more the teenagers thought that bullying occurs because the bully has psychosocial problems, the more they have been involved as defenders and the less as bullies or reinforcers in bullying situations.

‘You Should Be Yourself’—Secondary Students’ Descriptions of Social Gender Demands

“…The present study echoes previous knowledge about boys' supposed lack of interest in learning and a repetition of the male norm of not showing emotion and instead using harsh language [4][5][6][7]14,16,18,19,22,23,26,[28][29][30]. It is easy to sympathize with teenage boys who act on the front stage [35], which does not allow them to reveal emotions such as sadness and a depressive mood but only reinforces that boys are allowed to act out through aggressiveness.…”

“…Accordingly, the social group dynamics and conformity demands related to masculinity norms and social belonging have a major impact on boys' wellbeing. The teenage boys interviewed in this study talked about how they adapted to conformity demands and perform boyhood in relation to the group by having a trendy appearance, using masculine talk at least among the boys, and suppressing emotional signs of weakness, especially in the school context [26,34,38,45].…”

‘You Should Be Yourself’—Secondary Students’ Descriptions of Social Gender Demands

“…The present study echoes previous knowledge about boys' supposed lack of interest in learning and a repetition of the male norm of not showing emotion and instead using harsh language [4][5][6][7]14,16,18,19,22,23,26,[28][29][30]. It is easy to sympathize with teenage boys who act on the front stage [35], which does not allow them to reveal emotions such as sadness and a depressive mood but only reinforces that boys are allowed to act out through aggressiveness.…”

“…Accordingly, the social group dynamics and conformity demands related to masculinity norms and social belonging have a major impact on boys' wellbeing. The teenage boys interviewed in this study talked about how they adapted to conformity demands and perform boyhood in relation to the group by having a trendy appearance, using masculine talk at least among the boys, and suppressing emotional signs of weakness, especially in the school context [26,34,38,45].…”

A developmental perspective on popularity and the group process of bullying

“…In line with resource control theory, early adolescent bullies used bullying as a strategic behavior to acquire social dominance (Olthof, Goossens, Vermande, van der Meulen, & Aleva, 2011). Thornberg (2015) also found that most adolescents indicate that youths bully because they want to obtain status and power in the peer group. Thus, several studies support the idea that priority of popularity seems to drive bullying behavior in adolescence, making it a possible explanation for why bullying and following are more prevalent in adolescence than in childhood (Pouwels, van Noorden, et al, 2018), as youths prioritize popularity more strongly in adolescence than childhood (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010).…”

Causes of bullying among young people and protective mechanisms and preventative factors that promote mental health and well-being: young people’s perspectives

“…Other research has shown that in long-term bullying cases, there is a complex pattern of interaction during which stigmatizing processes are created, through which bullying is considered natural and justified through the blaming and dehumanization of the victim (Thornberg, 2015b ). Moreover, it has been found that young people are strongly inclined to believe that bullies want power or status and have psychosocial problems and that victims of bullying are different, odd or deviant in some way (Thornberg, 2015a ). Students have even been found to believe that bullies have their own problems (Mischel & Kitsantas, 2020 ).…”

‘You Should Be Yourself’—Secondary Students’ Descriptions of Social Gender Demands

“…The present study echoes previous knowledge about boys' supposed lack of interest in learning and a repetition of the male norm of not showing emotion and instead using harsh language [4][5][6][7]14,16,18,19,22,23,26,[28][29][30]. It is easy to sympathize with teenage boys who act on the front stage [35], which does not allow them to reveal emotions such as sadness and a depressive mood but only reinforces that boys are allowed to act out through aggressiveness.…”

“…Accordingly, the social group dynamics and conformity demands related to masculinity norms and social belonging have a major impact on boys' wellbeing. The teenage boys interviewed in this study talked about how they adapted to conformity demands and perform boyhood in relation to the group by having a trendy appearance, using masculine talk at least among the boys, and suppressing emotional signs of weakness, especially in the school context [26,34,38,45].…”

A developmental perspective on popularity and the group process of bullying

“…In line with resource control theory, early adolescent bullies used bullying as a strategic behavior to acquire social dominance (Olthof, Goossens, Vermande, van der Meulen, & Aleva, 2011). Thornberg (2015) also found that most adolescents indicate that youths bully because they want to obtain status and power in the peer group. Thus, several studies support the idea that priority of popularity seems to drive bullying behavior in adolescence, making it a possible explanation for why bullying and following are more prevalent in adolescence than in childhood (Pouwels, van Noorden, et al, 2018), as youths prioritize popularity more strongly in adolescence than childhood (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010).…”

Causes of bullying among young people and protective mechanisms and preventative factors that promote mental health and well-being: young people’s perspectives

“…Other research has shown that in long-term bullying cases, there is a complex pattern of interaction during which stigmatizing processes are created, through which bullying is considered natural and justified through the blaming and dehumanization of the victim (Thornberg, 2015b ). Moreover, it has been found that young people are strongly inclined to believe that bullies want power or status and have psychosocial problems and that victims of bullying are different, odd or deviant in some way (Thornberg, 2015a ). Students have even been found to believe that bullies have their own problems (Mischel & Kitsantas, 2020 ).…”

‘You Should Be Yourself’—Secondary Students’ Descriptions of Social Gender Demands

“…The present study echoes previous knowledge about boys' supposed lack of interest in learning and a repetition of the male norm of not showing emotion and instead using harsh language [4][5][6][7]14,16,18,19,22,23,26,[28][29][30]. It is easy to sympathize with teenage boys who act on the front stage [35], which does not allow them to reveal emotions such as sadness and a depressive mood but only reinforces that boys are allowed to act out through aggressiveness.…”

“…Accordingly, the social group dynamics and conformity demands related to masculinity norms and social belonging have a major impact on boys' wellbeing. The teenage boys interviewed in this study talked about how they adapted to conformity demands and perform boyhood in relation to the group by having a trendy appearance, using masculine talk at least among the boys, and suppressing emotional signs of weakness, especially in the school context [26,34,38,45].…”

A developmental perspective on popularity and the group process of bullying

“…In line with resource control theory, early adolescent bullies used bullying as a strategic behavior to acquire social dominance (Olthof, Goossens, Vermande, van der Meulen, & Aleva, 2011). Thornberg (2015) also found that most adolescents indicate that youths bully because they want to obtain status and power in the peer group. Thus, several studies support the idea that priority of popularity seems to drive bullying behavior in adolescence, making it a possible explanation for why bullying and following are more prevalent in adolescence than in childhood (Pouwels, van Noorden, et al, 2018), as youths prioritize popularity more strongly in adolescence than childhood (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010).…”

Causes of bullying among young people and protective mechanisms and preventative factors that promote mental health and well-being: young people’s perspectives

“…Other research has shown that in long-term bullying cases, there is a complex pattern of interaction during which stigmatizing processes are created, through which bullying is considered natural and justified through the blaming and dehumanization of the victim (Thornberg, 2015b ). Moreover, it has been found that young people are strongly inclined to believe that bullies want power or status and have psychosocial problems and that victims of bullying are different, odd or deviant in some way (Thornberg, 2015a ). Students have even been found to believe that bullies have their own problems (Mischel & Kitsantas, 2020 ).…”