Unveiling Bullying Dynamics: Assessing The Phenomenon In An Indian Context

Abstract

In light of the accruing evidence, it has been established that Bullying is a diverse and complex phenomenon that affects millions of people each year. Research has been conducted by different researchers in multiple fields of studies regarding bullying over the years however; there is a lack of study regarding bullying in Indian context. The purpose of this study was to explore bullying in Indian context in order to understand the forms of bullying in India. To do so, the researcher conducted focus group interviews with a total of 17 people. First group consisted of five teachers teaching the students of age 13 to 18 years, second group consisted of six students Who were not actively participating in sports and the third group consisted of six students who are actively participating in sports. The age of the students was ranging from 13 to 18 years. The researchers then transcribed, coded and analyzed the interview with the help of NVivo (trial version). The results revealed that in Indian context social bullying is prevalent between students which include Body shaming and discriminatory remarks. The result also showed that the most common reason behind bullying is the attention seeking behavior of bully. When it comes to bystanders, it was revealed that their action during the occurrence of the phenomena can influence bully’s behavior. It was also revealed that bystanders play an important role in order to prevent bullying. The researcher concluded that bullying is as big of a problem in India as the rest of the world and needs to be explored in for prevention.