Bullying as a Research Object and a Cultural Phenomenon

Abstract

This paper presents the world's major achievements in the study of school bullying – a topic that quickly became a trend in world psychology. Research in the phenomenology of bullying, preventive technologies and bullying termination are very important because of the possibility of the consequences of severe harassment. Bullying can be direct or indirect, with direct bullying occurring mainly in primary school and the peaks of indirect bullying being in middle and high school. Boys are more likely to become participants and victims of direct bullying whereas girls participate and suffer more from indirect bullying. Although the roles of the participants in a bullying situation (victim, persecutor, witness) are not rigidly fixed and can vary from situation to situation and from community to community, studies show that the participants of bullying often have distinctive personalities and behavioral traits and have a number of related social risks.In addition to individual personal prerequisites of participants the article problematises social context that fosters bullying. Studies show that both victims and initiators of bullying tend to grow up in families in which domestic violence is common. Also the risk of bullying increases in socially disorganized environments and societies with authoritarian control methods. The behavior of children is affected by violence in the broadcast media, and danger in the environment and the community. The authors assess the peculiarities of the Russian social context of bullying and discuss the problems of the study of bullying in Russia. In conclusion, three main research approaches to bullying are suggested, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.