Bullying in school: where the danger is? A reflection based on the Attachment Theory on the dynamics abuser/abused

Abstract

Although it is an old problem in our society, bullying has been the theme of constant investigation of researchers in thefields of health care and education wanting to understand its nature, discussing and evaluating successful interventionsin different settings, especially in schools. This paper aims to reflect on the psychodynamic characteristics of bullying,based on key concepts of Attachment Theory, developed by British psychiatrist John Bowlby between the 50’s and 90’s.Our specific interest was to establish a correlation between the concepts of attachment patterns, internal operating modelsand strategies of social interaction abuser / abused that characterize the phenomenon of bullying. The paper was developedon the basis of the theoretical review of the main concepts of this theory, which allowed us to develop analyzes andconsiderations relevant to the understanding of bullying as a situation arising from social commitments related to stylesof attachment: ambivalent insecure, evocative insecure, and disorganized insecure. The intention was also providing, bymeans of such considerations, support for new practices in different areas, from family to school, aimed at new possibilitiesfor prevention and resolution of problems aroused.