Premium
School Bullying as a Collective Action: Stigma Processes and Identity Struggling
Author(s) -
Thornberg Robert
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/chso.12058
Subject(s) - symbolic interactionism , collective action , grounded theory , ethnography , social psychology , identity (music) , stigma (botany) , social identity theory , interactionism , psychology , sociology , everyday life , collective identity , action (physics) , qualitative research , social group , social science , epistemology , aesthetics , political science , politics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , psychiatry , anthropology , law
The aim of this study was to investigate the collective action of bullying and its stigma processes and influences on identities. In accordance with interactionism, identity is a social process, constructed and reconstructed in everyday social interactions. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in four school classes, investigating six bullying cases. Grounded theory methods were used to explore and analyse data. Co‐constructing differentness was found to be a core process in bullying. Bullying often appeared to function like a self‐serving and socially inclusive ritual in which the bullies co‐constructed the ‘normal us’. Loss of belonging, self‐deprecation and identity struggling followed closely upon the sense of becoming socially discredited. Victims were trapped in the collective action. The findings highlight the significance of addressing peer cultures and the social psychology of everyday school life in anti‐bullying policies and practices.