The first study of bullying, including the early aspects of cyberbullying, was published in 1969 by a physician named P. P. Heinemann. It was subsequently followed by extensive empirical inquiry in the 1970s by Dan Olweus in Scandinavia. While most scholars identify bullying, including cyberbullying, as a subset of aggression and violent behavior, it remains a multifaceted problem that requires attention from various disciplines. Over the years, scholars from numerous theoretical backgrounds have identified that the psychological aspects of bullying, particularly cyberbullying, must be studied alongside its socially and environmentally constructed counterparts. Thus, the social construction of bullying through the contours of culture remains a widely discussed phenomenon.
Understanding Culture and Social Construction in Cyberbullying
In implementing my project that focuses on racially-motivated (cyber) bullying in Greece, I have engaged with literature that strongly proposes the social constructionism of bullying. In simple words, internalizing culturally defined norms and ideals can lead to deviant behaviors and outputs. These norms and expectations influence attitudes, especially when an individual holds strongly to particular aspects of these ideologies. In multicultural contexts, racially, culturally, or ethnically motivated forms of bullying, including cyberbullying, are essential to be considered. These subtypes of bullying are even more perplexing, as they have roots in group-based preconceptions and are often labeled as identity-based, bias-based, or stigma-based bullying.
Power Dynamics and the Social Construction of Bullying
Foucault, widely known for his research on power and its manifestation for social control, argued that power is not a static category. Rather, it is practiced from multifarious points. Simply put, this implies that power differences in bullying situations, especially in cyberbullying, are themselves the product of social relations. Researchers inspired by Foucault’s theories on power differential tend to ask how individuals are positioned to the dominant social and moral orders; for example, concerning ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or other social vectors of inequality as already mentioned. This helps connect the individual traits with socially and culturally constructed components that lead to bullying and aggressive behaviors.
Practically speaking, for someone coming from the bottom part of the social hierarchy, the societal standing and opportunities will not be the same as the one coming from the top. This eventually manifests in receiving subpar treatment and value in the social order often resulting in racism, classism, violence, aggression, and bullying.
Addressing Cyberbullying Through Community Engagement
Various ethnographic studies have connected bullying, including cyberbullying, with intolerance of differences and diversity between individuals and groups. Thus, many instances of bullying need to be understood in connection with broad social problems like racial discrimination, sexual harassment, ethnic prejudice, and homophobia among others. Considering bullying as an isolated event can lead to problematic behaviors in society.
Cultural contexts are significant because every society has its history which has been established over time and reproduced through various factions. Distancing the idea that culture does not influence how we behave and treat others can be detrimental to the cause of finding ways through which we aim to counter the bullying epidemic. The real change will come when we address the problem the way it needs to be undertaken and work on a whole-community approach. Targeting the issue from every end is how we are going to find possible solutions to it. PARTICIPATE is one such attempt where all of us are broaching the subject from our respective backgrounds under the guidance of domain experts. This space will keep updating everyone as our journey to dismantle the lack of multifarious cyberbullying research unfolds.
