A thematic analysis of lived experiences of bullying among school going adolescents - Anthropological insights
Keywords:
Public health, School bullying, Cyberbullying, Adolescents, Perpetrator, Retaliation, VictimAbstract
Background and aim: Bullying is a public health concern with social and psychological consequences. In India, quantitative research on bullying prevalence has considerably grown, however, qualitative investigations remain limited. The present study explores the lived experiences of bullying among school-going adolescents with a focus on the understanding of students about bullying, their responses towards bullying incidents, peer support, the role of parents and school in bullying intervention.
Methods: The study presents the thematic analysis of open-ended responses collected from the school-going adolescents of North India. For the main study, 976 subjects were recruited from six schools with an age range 12-18 years. The responses were thematically analysed using NVivo software.
Results: Verbal and physical bullying were the most reported forms of bullying with relational and sexual bullying also predominantly represented. The classroom and the playground were reported as the most likely places where bullying incidents occur. Friends and parents emerge as the primary interveners while teachers and the school principal play a peripheral role. Peers were reported the main perpetrators for the bullying incidents in school; however, a few instances of adult perpetration such as teacher and bus conductor were also reported. Retaliation was frequently cited as a motivation for bullying by the perpetrators.
Conclusions: The findings of the present study highlight gaps in the institutional response mechanism and the significance of family and peer support. The findings also point towards the need for context-specific antibullying programmes in Indian schools. The study contributes to the growing literature on school bullying in India and offers implications for policy-making.
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