Wed 6 Aug 2008
A shove, a taunt or name-calling on the playground or in the hall, away from the eyesight, earshot and authority of the teacher – childhood bullying can involve physical contact, spreading rumors and other negative behaviors committed over and over again to intimidate, humiliate and isolate the receiver of the behavior.
A review of national and international research on the issue is finding a family connection to the origins of young bullies. Elizabeth Sweeney, a University of Cincinnati master’s degree student in sociology, presented her findings Aug. 3 at the 103rd annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Sweeney reviewed research out of England, Germany, Norway, Japan, South Africa and the United States, which she reports lagged behind the European countries in examining the phenomenon of bullying prior to this decade. The majority of the research that she examined involved children between the ages of nine and 16.
Sweeney says her review of the literature found that children raised by authoritarian parents – parents who are demanding, directive and unresponsive – are the most prone to act out bullying behavior.
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One Response to “ The School Bully: Does It Run In The Family? ”
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August 9th, 2008 at 11:20
Elizabeth Sweeney is quite correct in her deduction, but if this is the stuff MA’s are made of, it doesn’t bode well for the advance of education theory and practice. I reached the same conclusion at 12 years old after an intensive study of my peers!
That the extreme ends of society are most prone to bullying behavior is hardly news; the hardest Sargent Majors come from the rough end of town, or country (Scotland for example), and the most murderous Brigadiers when off duty can be found haunting the “best clubs”.
English literature has documented the question of bullying at some length and detail: Flashman, Billy Bunter, Tom Browns’ Schooldays for instance.
Elizabeth Sweeney could have saved herself some research just by reading some of these books! A glance through any Calvin and Hobbes book will confirm the international similarity in approach and subsequent misery.
It is certainly quite clear and has been for some time that bullying starts with the family. It’s the “kick the dog” syndrome.
Meanwhile the great tranquil apathetic terrorised middle classes just plod along with their heads down. Which is what they were educated to do.
Elizabeth Sweeney statesand the United States, which (Elizabeth Sweeney) reports lagged behind the European countries in examining the phenomenon of bullying …”
Given that the USA is the Bully in the Playground at the moment, it is hardly surprising they lag behind in examining this phenomenon, bullies are not renowned for self analysis.
I know two effective examples of how a bully was dealt with; one at a very “upper class” English boarding school, when a large kid, just arrived from a very rough North England government school trying to continue his rule by bullying found himself at the end of such a physically passive reaction to his taunts, jibes and threats; nobody cared or reacted, but received such an intellectual hammering he had a nervous breakdown, but on recovery turned out to be “quite a nice chap” and good at football.
Another example, at a very rough Glasgow state school, where the teacher, tired of constant complaints from other younger pupils about the “class bully”, lured him into a quiet corner and using Marquess of Queensberry rules beat the daylights out him. The bully got the message.
Quite what to with the USA defeats me, when Great Britain was the bully, the bullied just eroded the “empire” to a shred. Interesting that the UK alighns itself so much with the USA. South Africa didn’t wake up and smell the coffee, and what the Boer bullies didn’t lose, they will.
Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, well they are sort of tourist attractions now. Germany can’t even talk about what the embarrassing end to their go at ruling the playground, and although have toned down the physical manifestations, haven’t given up the theory, terrorising, bullying their citizens on a profound and daily basis.
The depressing thing about bullies is that they invariably end up the Sargent Majors or Brigadiers, be it in the army or otherwise, with full support of the family of course (didn’t he do well…).
Oh, and girls/women are just as good/bad. Better in fact because they have better cover to hide behind.
Malc