Leveraging Dignity Theory to Understand Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Children’s Rights

Abstract

This article outlines how dignity theory could be used to better understand bullying behaviors. Dignity is defined here as the inherent worth of every human being and it allows us to trace the motivations behind bullying behaviors to broader social values that are rarely the primary focus of bullying research, as well as prevention and intervention efforts. In this manner, the theory could elucidate the cultural patterns which contribute to not only child bullying and cyberbullying, but to workplace bullying, and to similar abusive behaviors among adults. We give special attention to cyberbullying and illustrate how dignity theory can clarify why this behavior is not only about online safety but about relational issues, which are reflective of social values. We argue that seeing cyberbullying through the lens of online safety can limit the scope of artificial intelligence–based solutions whose development is gaining momentum at this time. We provide suggestions about dignity-based considerations that collaborations between computer and social scientists could take into account in order to pave the way towards innovation that upholds dignity and children’s rights.