Social Control and Criminal Deviance: Bullying - Essay Example

Social control and criminal deviance; bullying al affiliation Bullying is not a new vice in the society that requires critical analysis to understand. Occasionally, students in various institutions of learning become victims of physical and emotional aggression that may be a hindrance to their free learning. Bullying threatens to weaken the societal fabric and demean the essence of humanity. It is important to understand bullying behaviors as a prerequisite for implementing the prevention measures that encourage pro-social associations.

This paper investigates the social factors that promote bullying among students to gain a clear understanding of the enormity of the vice in the society. Bullying is a common occurrence in schools and is not bound by race, gender, class or natural distinctions hence any student is predisposed to at least one form of bullying. In the United States of America, students have arbitrarily shot their colleagues to death because of bullying. Bullying is classically defined as any adverse aggressive or manipulative action or a series of aggressions carried out by one person or by a group of people on a particular person over an extended period.

Bullying is attributable to the imbalance of power between the instigator and the victim. In essence, the perpetrator bears the feeling of superiority over the victim. It is important that the school environment remains safe for student learning and development. However, these roles of school are undermined by the daily humiliation, isolation, and insecurity that result from bullying. Schools should adopt policies that provide for zero tolerance for bullying to eradicate bullying and make schools favorable learning environments.

Furthermore, teachers, parents, and learners require education on the effects, indicators, and prevention mechanisms for bullying. The society has conceded to the fact that adolescence and teenage results in various physical and emotional changes in children. However, this assumption of adolescence aggression conceals the reality of bullying. Bullying takes the form of direct aggression or indirect aggression. Taunting, teasing, and calling one name are the common forms of verbal assault. The indirect forms of bullying are common among girls.

However, direct bullying including hitting, kicking, or any brutal attack of the victim is common among boys. Bullying has inherent psychological connotations. Either the bullies are victims of poor upbringing or students seeking vengeance over their past atrocities. In essence, the bullies have no empathy or a feeling of humanity for the victim so long as the action leads to some sense of domination, and subdual. The bullies are very selective of their victims and commonly chose the weak students who are less self-defensive.

Three reasons explain the etiology of bullying. The first theoretical position attributes bullying to aggressive behaviors in the perpetrators home. In essence, this theory suggests that the student bullies learn the tactics of bullying from their parents or guardians. According to this theory, bullying is an act that is modeled at home through the observation of the activities of the parents or guardians. A second theory of bullying posits that it is secondarily motivated when the bully is rewarded for the act.

Rewarding the perpetrator reinforces the vice by making him, or her feel empowered to dominate. The third theoretical position perceives bullying as misinterpreted behaviors and the intentions of the actor. For instance, an accidental knocking by the same person may be misconstrued as harassment. However, this notion is self-defeating since the ideal definition of bullying is that the same person extends the aggression over a extended period, which cannot obviously be accidental.In conclusion, bullying in schools have adverse consequences on learning, It is necessary that teachers, students, and guardians understand their roles in the lives of learners as a primary step in stemming out bullying.

Punitive policies may only be temporary counteractive mechanisms for the vice. However, inculcating the sense of absolute humanity in the students provide long lasting social effects that prohibit bullying. ReferencesTEDx Talks (Feb 20, 2014). From school yard bullying to genocide: Barbara Coloroso at TEDxCalgary . Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkG0nssouFg.