The meaning deteriorated through the 17th century through "fine fellow", "blusterer", to "harasser of the weak". The word " bully" was first used in the 1530s meaning "sweetheart", applied to either sex, from the Dutch boel "lover, brother", probably diminutive of Middle High German buole "brother", of uncertain origin (compare with the German buhle "lover").
Ī bullying culture can develop in any context in which humans interact with each other. Individual bullying is usually characterized by a person behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person. The Swedish-Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus says bullying occurs when a person is "exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons", and that negative actions occur "when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, through words or in other ways". Fuller has analyzed bullying in the context of rankism. Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as "peer abuse". Bullying is the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another individual, physically, mentally, or emotionally.īullying ranges from one-on-one, individual bullying through to group bullying, called mobbing, in which the bully may have one or more "lieutenants" who are willing to assist the primary bully in their bullying activities.
![school bully school bully](https://cdn.w600.comps.canstockphoto.com/bullying-kids-stop-school-bully-eps-vector_csp60376081.jpg)
Bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behavior characterized by the following three criteria: (1) hostile intent, (2) imbalance of power, and (3) repetition over a period of time.
![school bully school bully](https://www.advocate.com/sites/default/files/2015/08/25/Bully-400x300.jpg)
This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbalance of physical or social power. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. Share of children who report being bullied (2015)īullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate.