Verbal bullying: signs of occurrence, consequences, and what to do

Bullying often appears in the form of verbal attacks. Let's see how to deal with it.

Bullying, or school bullying, is a phenomenon that occurs in educational environments and occurs very frequently among adolescents. In an analysis on the profile of aggressor and victim, Serra-Negra, et al (2015) recognize four main types of bullying: physical, verbal, relational and indirect (which includes rumor). Other authors, such as McGuinness (2007) add "cyberbullying" as a category that deserves to be reviewed separately.

In this article we will focus specifically on describing the manifestations, consequences and interventions of bullying. manifestations, consequences, and interventions of verbal bullyingstarting with a definition of bullying and its main characteristics.

Beyond the victim and the victimizer

The term "bullying" is the neologism that refers to school bullying. Its meaning translated into Spanish is "personal intimidation" and comes from the English "bully", which means "to overwhelm with threats". Likewise, "bully" can refer to a person who is cruel or intentionally aggressive towards others.

As a present and recurrent phenomenon in the educational contextbullying has been especially studied since the 1970's, initially in the Nordic countries after cases of adolescent suicide related to bullying were reported.

The most classic definition of bullying in this context includes the repetition of intentional aggressive actions performed by one or more students towards a member of the groupThis is compounded by a systematic abuse of power involving repeated harm and a series of inequitable relationships among members (McGuinness, 2007).

However, bullying has typically been defined and analyzed around the relationship and psychological profiles of the victim and the victimizer, as if the violent behavior had its roots and its functioning only in these two individuals. Although the above has been very relevant, there are also other elements that activate and re-produce bullying in adolescent relationships.

Causes of bullying and its social components.

Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, et al (1995) tell us that, in its nature, bullying is a social phenomenon, in that it takes place within groups that are relatively permanent. One of its main characteristics is that the victim has little chance of avoiding the perpetratorsnot only because the phenomenon is often kept invisible, but also because the attacks are generally supported by the other members of the group.

Therefore, bullying is also a category of aggressive behavior in which there is an ambivalence of power that allows such an act to be repeated periodically. It is not only a violent relationship established by an aggressor towards a victim, but it is a type of violence that occurs in the group context, where, through certain roles, some members can reinforce violent behavior, members can reinforce the violent behavior of other members..

For the same reason, it is possible to distinguish between a relationship where there is bullying and one where there is simply a conflict, by assessing whether or not the power relations between those involved are equitable. In other words, it is not bullying when the conflict occurs between two people who have the same positions of power.

What is verbal bullying and how does it manifest itself?

According to McGuiness (2007), research has shown that verbal bullying is the most common method of bullying. It occurs in similar ratios between boys and girls, and the insults are mainly characterized by racial and gender components. It occurs in similar ratios among boys and girls, the most common methods of verbal bullying are slander, i.e., statements that are made in the name of a person's race or gender.i.e. false and malicious statements, teasing and calling the person by derogatory or violent nicknames.

Serra-Negra, Martins, Baccin, et al (2015) tell us that the main trigger of verbal bullying is the dynamics of acceptance of some group members to other members, which is influenced by factors such as physical characteristics and socioeconomic status of all of them.

In other words, in addition to the channel through which violence is exercised (verbal, physical, etc.), the various types of bullying can take multiple foci. For example, offensive behavior may target gender, race, disability, or social class, among other categories.among other categories.

When these characteristics do not correspond to the expectations of the group, the individual is rejected and bullied. Thus, the same authors tell us that verbal bullying is mainly motivated by the following issues:

• Physical characteristicsThe following are some examples of stereotypes, such as obesity or very thinness, skin color, hair type, mode of dress, disability, among others.
• Prejudices and stereotypes religious, racial and gender prejudice and stereotypes, including homophobia, lesbophobia and transphobia.

Thus, the detection of verbal bullying begins with giving relevance to any statement whose content is focused on the above issues. This can be detected both at school and at home. In fact, although bullying occurs by definition at school, it is in the comments made within the family that it often becomes more evident.. Once this is detected, it can be linked to individual and emotional manifestations such as those we will see below.

Emotional consequences of these attacks

According to Elipe, Ortega, Hunter, et al (2012), bullying can generate significant emotional imbalances, which if maintained in the medium and long term, can have very negative and differential consequences for the victim and for the aggressors. In this sense, emotional expression and regulation is one of the possible predictors of the bullying situation.

Likewise, other consequences of bullying on the person who is a victim, and which are in turn indicators of victimization, are the following:

• Dropout or school failure.
• Reporting excessive feelings of guilt.
• Inhibition in communication and socialization.
• Repetitive psychosomatic illnesses.
• Negative self-appreciation.

Prevention and intervention strategies

Considering bullying as not only a psychological but also a social phenomenon is important because it allows us to analyze dynamics and components that sometimes go unnoticed, and that nevertheless the basis on which the violent interaction is generated and reproduced..

Taking the above into consideration is an essential element in the planning of intervention and bullying prevention strategies, both at the family level and in the educational environment.

The latter, the family and the educational environmentare the two main support systems for adolescents, any alteration in both can significantly affect the course of their development (both negative and positive). We will outline some strategies that can be implemented in both contexts.

1. In the educational environment

Different studies show that there is a lower psychosocial adjustment and a low level of empathy in group members who attack others (Elipe, Ortega, Hunter, et al, 2012). In this sense, it is important that the educational environment reinforces empathy, and for this, it is necessary to know and work on the recognition schemes that exist among the different members. From there, it is necessary to to facilitate coexistence environments free of stereotypes and bullying..

2. In the family environment

Prevention and intervention strategies in the family environment depend to a large extent on the dynamics generated by adults.

In this sense, it is important to to start with a detection of the indicators of bullying that are present at the verbal level, and then to explore what are the patterns of bullying in the family environment.and then explore what are the underlying patterns that are causing the adolescent to have a derogatory perception of the characteristics of the partner he/she is attacking. Intervening by modifying these patterns is important to counteract the tendency to aggression.

Likewise, both in the family and in the school, it is important to have detailed and reliable information on the subject, which makes it possible to carry out educational strategies based on empathy and respectful recognition of others.

3. Empowerment of the victim

It is also important to work with the coping styles of the victims of bullying. For this, it is essential to start by recognizing the situation of bullying and knowing oneself to be a victim of it. However, the next step is to reinforce the recognition of oneself as a person who can also generate resources to counteract the bullying. can also generate resources to counteract the violent relationship..

This recognition starts from the way the person feels treated by adults and their reference contexts, as well as by their peers. The interaction that the victim establishes with her closest environments can reinforce the situation of vulnerability, far from counteracting it, so this is an element that should also be analyzed.

Bibliographical references:

• Serra-Negra, J., Martins, S., Bacin, C. et al. (2015). Verbal school bullying and life satisfaction among Brazilian adolescents: Profiles of the aggressor and the victim. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 57: 132-139.
• Duy, B. (2013). Teachers' attitudes toward different types of bullying and victimization in Turkey. Psychology in the Schools, 5(10): 987-1002.
• Elipe, P., Ortega, R., Hunter, S. et al (2012). Perceived emotional intelligence and involvement in various types of bullying. Behavioral Psychology, 20(1): 169-181.
• McGuiness, T. (2007). Dispelling the Myths of Bullying. Youth in Mind. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, (45) 10: 19-23.
• Scheithauer, H., Hayer, T., Petermann, F. et al. (2006). Physical, verbal and relation forms of bullying among German students: age trends, gender differences and correlates.
• Salmivalli, C., Lagarspetz, K., Björkqvst, K. et al. (1996). Bullying as a Group Process: Participant Roles and Their Relations to Social Status Within The Group. Aggressive Behavior, 22:1-15.