Bullying as a Means to Foster Compliance

—S —E —L A growing body of developmental research on bullying (i.e., ridicule, intimidation, and exclusion) focuses predominately on either the perpetrators or victims of bullying. Although the critical role of onlookers or bystanders is recognized especially by intervention approaches (e.g., Olweus, 1994; Olweus & Limber, 1999; Salmivalli, 2002; Salmivalli & Voeten, 2004), little has been written about the effects of bullying on the peer collective as a whole. In the current chapter, we provide a conceptual analysis of bullying as fostering social norms. This analysis is based on the assumption that bullying is an abuse of power over both the victim and the bystanders who witness this abuse. By targeting a particular person or a specifi c characteristic of the person, the bully communicates what is unacceptable or nonnormative. When witnessing bystanders do not convey their disapproval of bullying but instead reject the victim, the intimidating behaviors are sanctioned and encouraged (Olweus, 1993; Samivalli, 2002). The alliance between the hostile bully and bystanders (i.e., rejecting peers) thereby helps foster group norms, which are made salient by actions against violators. To protect themselves from humiliation and distress, most group members therefore comply with the perceived or enforced norms (Juvonen & Galván, 2008). This means that hostile peer responses function to “teach a lesson” not only to those who are repeated targets of bullying and rejection (Juvonen