Bystanders in Situations of Bullying: Motivations for Defending a Victim

1864 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of bullying on the bully and the bystand

Introduction/Background

Bullying can be experienced in several forms such as physical, verbal, social or cyber. All bullying is composed of three specific concepts—causing their victims harm, possessing greater power than their victims and repetition (Oh & Hazler, 2009). Bystanders play perhaps the most vital role in bullying (Oh & Hazler, 2009). Bystanders can help the bully (‘assistants’ or ‘reinforcers’), remain passive and non-interceptive (‘outsiders’) or they can be ‘defenders’, which are individuals who intervene using prosocial behaviours, meaning that they voluntarily act in ways that benefit others (Oh & Hazler, 2009; Thornberg, 2007). Statistics suggest bystander’s use only 25% of their time to intervene and defend the bully (Trach, Hymel, Waterhouse and Neale, 2010; Thornberg, 2007).

In order to better understand a ‘defender’, scholars have analyzed their personality and what traits distinguish their ambition to intervene. Based on the ‘Big Five’ personality traits, ‘defenders’ tended to be those who scored higher on the evaluation for friendliness or those who are considered altruistic and sympathetic to ones needs (Tani, Greeenman, Schneider & Fregoso, 2003). McLaughlin, Arnold and Boyd (2005) also identified that those who intervene were those who were pro-victim and felt for those who were bullied. Furthermore, research on ‘defenders’ using the ‘Big Five’ personality tests suggests that the selfless behaviour of ‘defenders’ may originate from a high self-esteem (Tani, Greenman, Schneider & Fregoso, 2003). Perhaps this ideal of high self-esteem and confidence in their decision to intervene, lends istelf to McLaughlin, Arnold and Boyd’s (2005) observation that if the individual has defended a victim once, they a...

... middle of paper ...

... Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology: An Official Publication of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 38(6), 815-827. doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9399-9

Tani, F., Greenman, P. S., Schneider, B. H., & Fregoso, M. (2003). Bullying and the big five: A study of childhood personality and participant roles in bullying incidents. School Psychology International, 24(2), 131-146. doi:10.1177/0143034303024002001

Thornberg, R. (2007). A classmate in distress: Schoolchildren as bystanders and their reasons for how they act. Social Psychology of Education, 10(1), 5-28. doi:10.1007/s11218-006-9009-4

Trach, J., Hymel, S., Waterhouse, T., & Neale, K. (2010). Bystander responses to school bullying: A cross-sectional investigation of grade and sex differences. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25(1), 114-130. doi:10.1177/0829573509357553

Show More
Related

  • Stomp Out Bullying

    1766 Words  | 4 Pages

    Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 15(2), 112-120. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.007

    Read More

  • Bullying: A Major Social Problem in the United States

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bullying has become a major problem facing the United States today. The American Psychological Association reports that roughly 40% to 80% of children are involved in bullying on some level during their time in school. (APA, 2014) The magnitude of the problem can be observed in the statistics. In the United States, a total of 4,080,879 children between the ages of five and 18 have been the victims of bullying compared to 3,892,199 who have reported that they have engaged in bullying someone else. Additionally, 851,755 said that they have been both the victim and the bully. That's a whopping 8,824,833 people in the United States that have been involved in bullying behavior on one level or another. (High, B., 2000 Census)

    Read More

  • The Issue of Bullying

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kan-Rice, Pamela. “School Bullies Are Often Also Victims; Feeling Safe Reduces Youth Bullying” University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources News and Information Outreach. AScribe Health News Service. 2 Sept, 2003. Infotrac July 08, 2004. http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfm?story=502

    Read More

  • Evaluating School Counseling Programs: Needs Assessment for Students

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    Banks, R. (2000). Bullying in schools. ERIC Review, 7(1),12-14. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http: //ericcass.uncg.edu/virtuallib/bullying/1036.html

    Read More

  • Bullying Case Study

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    They appear to derive satisfaction from inflicting injury and suffering on others, seem to have little empathy for their victims, and often defend their actions by saying that their victims provoked them in some way. Studies indicate that bullies often come from homes where physical punishment is used, where the children are taught to strike back physically as a way to handle problems, and where parental involvement and warmth are frequently lacking. Students who regularly display bullying behaviors are generally defiant or oppositional toward adults, antisocial, and apt to break school rules. In contrast to prevailing myths, bullies appear to have little anxiety and to possess strong self-esteem. There is little evidence to support the contention that they victimize others because they feel bad about themselves (Batsche & Knoff, 1994; Olweus,

    Read More

  • Conflict Theory On Bullying

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bullying has been around for decades and yet it is still a reoccurring problem, and it is only getting worse. The National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2009, said nearly 1 in 3 students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied in school. Eight years earlier, only 14 percent of that population said they had experienced bullying(Ollove,2014). There are two types of bullying the direct form and indirect form, in the direct form the victim receives physical harm example kicking pushing shoving. In the indirect form the victim receives emotional or mental harm by name-calling, rejection, gossip, threats, or insults(Green,2007). It doesn’t matter which way the victim was bullied it still causes

    Read More

  • Racial Bullying

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    Students tend to bully because they thrive for power and find satisfaction in causing suffering in other students, they often feel rewarded for their behavior. In the end bullying doesn’t affect just the victim and the person doing the bullying. According to Olweus, nearly one in five students in an average classroom is experiencing bullying in some way (Olweus). The article also describes how there is a bullying cycle and that there is over seven different roles that take place in bullying. There are the students who bully, followers, supporters, passive supporters, disengaged onlookers, possible defenders, defenders and the student who is bullied (Olweus). The first is the student who bullies, the student wants to bully and play a leader role in front of the school. The followers are the students who feel ...

    Read More

  • Bullying Essay

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bullying is an instrument form of aggression. There are a number of reasons why people have ...

    Read More

  • Early Childhood Bullying

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bullying can represent a genuine danger to kids' quick and long haul happiness and health, and can have significant effects on all kids included in bulling practices, whether as the one bullying others, the one being harassed, or the one seeing bullying. In any event a percentage of the foundations of tormenting practices, and on the other hand the roots of positive master social abilities, can likely be found in unfriendly and positive encounters amid ahead of schedule youth, yet the examination writing on these associations is restricted “The early childhood field lacks a coherent, theoretical model that identifies the factors contributing to aggressive or “mean” behavior in young children, and establishes the developmental link between this

    Read More

  • Why Bullying Can’t Be Stopped?

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    In a CNN study by Chuck Hadad he states “That bullying is pervasive even though the schools have anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through 12th grade, assemblies throughout the year, and a peer-to-peer program where older students talk to younger students about the dangers of bullying” (Hadad). Robert Faris, a sociologist found that bullies and victims are generally the same person. Whe...

    Read More

  • The Psychological Theory of Bullying

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    The psychoanalytic perspective (Erikson’s psychosocial stages), Sigmund Freud Ego or psychological defense mechanism, and behaviorism and social learning theory, are important to understanding adolescent bullying. In the psychoanalytic approach, development is discontinuous and as such occurs in stages where “people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations, and how these conflicts are resolved depends on the person’s ability to learn, to cope with others and cope with stress” (Berk 2010, p.15). According to Sigmund Freud from this theory, individuals use a mechanism called psychological defense mechanisms which when they feel an overpowering anxiety, the ego employs to protect themselves against unwanted, scary feelings or weaknesses within their psyche or consciousness. The use of these defense mechanisms can be useful sometimes and also hurtful at other times to us and others, which emanates as aggressive behavior e.g. bullying [2]. Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development are important for understanding bully behavior. According to Erikson, a “basic psychological conflict which is resolved along a scale from positive to negative determines a healthy or maladaptive outcomes of each stage” [Berk 2010, p.16], in other words as the child grows and goes through each of the psychosocial stages, he or she negotiates new cognitive and emotional experiences which enables him or her to pass through the stage with either a positive or negative outcome. The effects and results of a negative outcome from the stages can be used to describe aggressive behavior such as bullying [Berk 2010, p.16]. According to the behaviorism and learning theory, they believed that b...

    Read More

  • Different Perspectives of Bullying

    1807 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has been bullied or encountered someone being bullied at some point of their life. Whether it would be physically or verbally both can be exceedingly traumatizing and can have a long-term psychological influence on children’s development. Majority people may define bullying in a more physical term; nevertheless that’s not always the case. The act of bullying can occur in several ways and in reality affect the individual in the same way. Bullying is generally defined as repeated, negative, and harmful actions focused at target throughout a course of time, exhibiting a sense of power difference between the bully and the victim (Olweus, 1993; Limber & Mihalic, 1999 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). A survey was conducted in the United States estimating that over six million children, about 30% in grade six through ten have experienced frequent bullying in a school environment (Nansel, 2001 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). Many people might debate that bullying is something that every child goes through and is simply a part of growing up, although there are several damaging consequences that happens to the child’s brain. Bullying causes the child to feel upset, isolated, frightened, anxious, and depressed. They feel like they reason they are being picked on is because there is something wrong with them and may even lose their confidence feel unsafe going to school (Frenette, 2013 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005) Anthropologically, sociologically, or psychologically, bullying can be analyzed through different perspectives and several questions can be asked based on the topic:

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Bullying In Schools

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bullying is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places

    Read More

  • Child Bullying Essay

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victims of bullying will eventually show the effects of bullying by being passive or secluding themselves from other individuals. The background or culture of a victim will most likely determine how they progress or react in a bullying experience. A victim may retaliate to the bully's attacks depending on the level of aggressiveness used. Parenting affects the decisions made by both victims and bullies in the peer interactions. Intervention approaches to this social vice will include changing the victims’ opinions about themselves through encouragement and teaching them how to effectively respond to attackers...

    Read More

  • Causes and Effect of Depression among Teenagers

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bullying can also be considered as a major problem in the teenager bracket. This can occur in any social environment not just schools as mostly portrayed. Bullyi...

    Read More

More about Bystanders in Situations of Bullying: Motivations for Defending a Victim

Open Document