SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL NATURE OF BULLYING: OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORGANIZING PREVENTIVE WORK AT SCHOOL

Abstract

Background. Bullying is an urgent problem both due to high prevalence and the growing number of bullying varieties in the digital environment. Distance learning, changes in traditional forms of leisure activities and in supervision over the teen behavior set the problem of developing prevention programs for bullying and cyberbullying. Objective. We sought to summarize the outcomes of empirical research on teen bullying as a basis for organizing the preventive work. Methods and sampling. A theoretical review of the results of empirical studies of teen bullying in the Scopus, ERIC, RSCI databases for the last  years was carried out. Results. In adolescence, bullying exists as a type of experimental behavior aimed at the understanding and adjusting to group norms in the context of teen’s personal self-determination. Bullying behavior is determined not as much by the individual typological characteristics of a teenager but by the characteristics of interaction in groups of family, peers, and the school community. Bullying is a group behavior that follows the logics of the group process. A feature of teenage bullying is the obligatory presence of a group of other teenagers. Outside the group and without it, attacks on the victim lose their purpose. Teen groups tend to socially approve of bullying as a demonstration of the benefi ts of controlled group activity in order to achieve group goals. Bystanders are extremely important actors in bullying, both in reinforcing and even provoking violent events, and in containing and stopping them. The role structure of teen bullying is unstable and mobile and is characterized by the presence of ambivalent role positions. Conclusion. Understanding teen bullying as a socio- psychological phenomenon caused by the interaction of a teenager with reference groups of peers, family, and school makes it possible to develop effective programs for its prevention and termination.