PHYSICAL BULLYING: CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2024

The physical bullying is a type of bullying where physical contact occurs between the aggressor and the victim. The specific way in which it occurs varies between different cases; for example, it can include situations such as fighting, pushing, punching, kicking, or spitting, among other things.

Physical bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying, and also one of the most dangerous. In the other types of aggression, the consequences are mainly psychological. However, when there is physical violence, the integrity of the victim can be endangered.

Fortunately, it is also one of the easiest types of bullying to detect. This is because it usually leaves visible marks that teachers can find with the naked eye. These may include bruises, bite marks, wounds, or cuts.

Understanding the causes of physical bullying is essential to be able to fight against this phenomenon. In this article you will discover why it occurs, in addition to its characteristics and the consequences it produces in the victims.

Characteristics of physical bullying

Existence of repeated attacks

For a situation to be considered bullying of any kind, it is necessary that several aggressions take place. With a single interaction of violence between two people, this phenomenon could not be considered to have appeared.

Therefore, physical bullying usually occurs in environments in which the aggressor and the victim are forced to live in the same space.

Among them, we can find colleges, institutes, universities or even jobs. However, in the latter case, bullying is often called "mobbing."

Intentionality

Another requirement for a situation of physical violence to be considered bullying is that there must be an intention on the part of the aggressor to harm the victim. Therefore, accidents for example would not be considered physical harassment.

Power imbalance

Generally, an aggression situation is only considered bullying if the aggressor has much more power of any kind than the victim.

This can be physical (such as greater strength or size), psychological (such as greater intelligence), or social (for example, the support of several partners).

Specifically, physical bullying usually occurs between a large aggressor and a victim with a smaller or weaker body.

Physical assault on the victim or their belongings

The above characteristics are typical of all types of bullying. However, the sign that differentiates the physique from all other versions is the existence of direct contact between the aggressor and the victim.

Thus, for this type of bullying to appear, there must be repeated, intentional physical violence that implies an imbalance of power.

This can occur directly against the victim (for example, in the form of punching, spitting, biting or kicking), or against any of their belongings.

In the event that the violence is against the victim's possessions, it could take the form of robbery or destruction of the victim.

Causes

The causes of repeated bullying remain unclear. However, a great deal of research on the subject has been carried out in recent years.

Next we will study some of the reasons that often lead bullies to bully another person.

Frustration

One of the most common characteristics among all bullies is that they feel powerless in their own life. This generates great frustration, anger and rage, which they have to discharge in some way.

Because they are frustrated with their circumstances but know they are stronger than their victim, they decide to attack them to gain a sense of control and authority.

Personal bullying situations

According to various studies on the subject, most offenders have also been victims of harassment in other circumstances. These attacks may have occurred at home, at school, or in any other environment in which the bully has less power.

Sometimes this can lead the person to take out those who are weaker than him. The intention behind this would be to feel better about yourself, to regain some of your pride and a sense of self-worth.

Of course, this strategy often doesn't work, and it ends up creating more problems than it solves.

Lack of empathy

Most offenders are unable to put themselves in the shoes of their victims. Usually this happens because they are too young to have learned to develop their empathy. However, in adult settings, it may simply be due to a lack of social and emotional skills.

In fact, research on bullying shows that when the perpetrator is able to understand his victims, the bullying behaviors usually stop.

Envy

At other times, the aggressor feels inferior to his victim in some way, and that is why he decides to attack her. In the case of physical bullying, the frustration is usually intellectual. In general, the victim tends to get better grades than the attacker, or to be more intelligent in general.

In this way, the aggressor seeks to put himself above the victim, but does so to hide a certain insecurity in himself.

Consequences

The consequences of any type of bullying can be extremely serious. Harassment, being repeated and constant, can lead victims to suffer a large number of psychological problems.

Thus, it is not uncommon to find victims of bullying developing depression, anxiety, social phobia, low self-esteem and a feeling of helplessness. In the most serious cases, repeated bullying can even cause the recipient of the same to attempt suicide.

On the other hand, purely physical bullying has its own negative consequences. In addition to those common to all types of bullying, it also produces other particularly worrying results.

Thus, in very extreme cases, physical violence can leave permanent sequelae, with which the victim will have to learn to live (which can sometimes be complicated).

For this reason, it is essential to detect bullying cases in time and intervene as soon as possible so that the situation is resolved.

References

1. "Physical Bully" in: Bullying Statistics. Retrieved on: June 24, 2018 from Bullying Statistics: bullyingstatistics.org.
2. "What is physical bullying?" in: Bullying. Retrieved on: June 24, 2018 from Bullying: blogs.longwood.edu.
3. "Causes of bullying" in: American SPCC. Retrieved on: June 24, 2018 from American SPCC: americanspcc.org.
4. "What is physical bullying" in: Bullying and mobbing. Retrieved on: June 24, 2018 from Bullying and mobbing: bullyingandmobbing.com.
5. "The various forms of bullying" in: International University of Valencia. Retrieved on: June 24, 2018 from the International University of Valencia: universidadviu.es.