Download Jennifer Glasman 06.12.13 SBS 300 Dr. Shenk Using Theory to

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Jennifer Glasman
06.12.13
SBS 300
Dr. Shenk
Using Theory to Diminish Bullying
“Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a
real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated,
over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.”
(Bullying Definition). About 1/3 of people have been victims to people (Bussey & Fitzpatrick,
2011, p. 177). This is such a high number for an action that can be easily avoided. People that are
constantly bullied can result in long term and damaging effects. Since such a large number of
people are victims to this horrendous crime, something must be done. This problem can looked
at using sociology and theory.
A theory that could help sociologists get to the root of the problem is George Herbert
Mead’s “generalized other”. Once these sociologists figure out a reasoning, they may take part
with the help of diminishing this issue and finding solutions. I also was able to take part in the
fight against bullying. I decided to change the way I treat people and raise awareness for this
issue. Through this assignment, I was able to look at an important issue sociologically in order to
try to help get rid of it in society.
“For he enters his own experience as a self or individual, not directly or immediately, not
by becoming a subject to himself, but only in so far as he first becomes an object to himself…”
(Mead, 2012 p. 425). The self is created with the use of interaction with others. We are able to
communicate with one another using words, symbols, gestures, etc. These objects of
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communication help us get a better understanding of how other people view us. With this type
of knowledge we also create our own identity (Callero, 2003, p. 120). This theory also explains
how the “I” and the “me” creates role partners. A person’s whole social environment is built with
the help of the roles people receive using the “generalized other” theory. The social environment
dictates roles people play in this society. It is what creates a person’s identity and makes a person
believe that their social identity is who they really are (Mead, 2012, p. 431).
People gain their identities in a couple different ways. George Herbert Mead’s theory of
the generalized other states that people are composed of two different things: “Me’s” and “I’s”.
“Me” is a collection of views from other people. A person will identify their sense of self and
their role in society by the way people view them. “I” is the way a person views themselves by
their actions and interests. In order for a person to have a good experience with their roles, one
must be fully dedicated to them. Those with low self-esteem tend to not be fully engaged to their
roles, perhaps because of their lack of interests (Marks & MacDermid, 1996). The “generalized
other” explains that people become their specific roles by interpreting and coming to terms with
the way others and their own self view them (Callero, 2003, p. 121).
George Herbert Mead is one of the most influential classical social theorists in America.
He was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1863. He graduated at Oberlin College in 1883,
which is also the same place his mother taught at. Then started teaching at an elementary school.
While attending Harvard University, Mead was also a surveyor for a railroad company. After he
received his second Bachelor’s degree, he was able to study under the famous German
psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in Germany. This experience led to Mead’s interest in society and
the self.
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The self was a very important topic to George Herbert Mead. His theory of “generalized
other” sprung from his interest and curiosity of the self. He was very interested in social
interaction in this society and how it correlated with the self. He studied how and why people
have specific identities and roles in our society. He suggests that the way we relate with others
and view the world are the key factors to a person’s identity.
Unfortunately, the roles our society chooses for us can strain a person. In order to have a
good experience with their roles, a person must be completely dedicated to them. Those with low
self-esteem tend to not be fully engaged to their roles, perhaps because of their lack of interests.
In “Multiple Roles and Self”, Marks and MacDermid were able to study how the idea of the
generalized other can affect a person’s self-esteem through observations and different surveys.
They were able to observe the way a person views their own identity and role in a society. They
were able to understand each persons “I”. According to Mead, “I” is the way a people views
themselves by their actions and interests. Role strain was apparent by viewing a person’s
happiness level by the different roles that they attain (MacDermid & Marks, 1996).
Bullying is a huge problem in this society. Many people have been victims to this type of
assault and it can lead to some horrendous problems. I believe that bullying would be the perfect
social issue to pair with the “generalized other”. Bullying exemplifies Mead’s theory and how it
relates to this society. There are many types of bullying; they range from verbal to physical
abuse (Bussey & Fitzpatrick, 2011, p. 177). This type of mistreatment can cause psychological
and physical pain that can last for years. This issue causes many problems as children and I
believe that it would be good to look at it using a social theory. This could find the causes of
bullying and be able to stop it before it starts.
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The type of household a person was raised in can affect the social self. Parents and
siblings will treat their family members a certain way and that person will think of their own self
that same way. An article that relates to this topic, Social Experience and School Bullying,
discusses a key factor of bullying with young children. The authors, Bacchini, Esposito, and
Afuso, believed that most bullies and their victims grew up in dangerous households. They
thought that this type of an environment created these types of groups. They also studied the way
bullies interacted with their fellow classmates. They always obtained the dominant role and
seemed to have a higher self-esteem compared to everyone else. This is because they constantly
cause trouble with others and are unqualified of solving conflicts. They also perform their
encounters in front of an audience, so that everyone will know their role in that social
environment (Bacchini, Esposito, & Afuso, 2008).
Since many bullies were raised differently than other people, they also often interact quite
differently. They are unable to understand other people’s feelings and they take pride in being
the dominant person in every situation. Bullies prefer to take the governing role in social
situations. The social self is really seen in this type of circumstance. One of the reasons why
these people are bullies is because of the way others view them. Their victims view them as a
more dominant type. Most bullies enjoy this feeling and this is one of the reasons why they strive
to obtain their role. (Sutton, Smith, & Swettenham, 1999).
There was a survey done in order to test whether home life can be a leading cause of the
creation a victim and a bully. In “Social Experience and School Bullying”, Dario Bacchini,
Giovanna Esposito, and Gaetana Afuse hypothesize that there is a relationship between bullies
and victims and their exposure to unsafe and intense situations in their home life (2009, p. 17). In
order for them to test their hypotheses and to come to these conclusions, they did a study in
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Ercolano, Italy. They were able to study all of Ercolano’s state-run schools. They gave students
questionnaires to see how much bullying was going on in their schools. They first gave the
students a definition of bullying so that they would all have the same idea of it in order to
correctly fill out the questionnaire. They were asked to answer the following questions: “how
often have you been bullied at school in the past couple of months?”, “how often have you taken
part in bullying another student(s) at school in the past couple of months?”, “in what way have
you been bullied at school?”, and “in what way did you bully others at school?” They were able
to complete their results using variance test. They concluded that there was a relationship
between bullies and victims and their exposure to unsafe and intense situations in their home life.
(Bacchini, Esposito, & Afuse, 2009)
For my action I decided to focus more on the victim and how they gain their identity. The
reason why these people are picked on so much is, because of the way people view them and
how they view their own selves. Their “me” has been associated with the fact that they have
become easy targets for others. My goal for this action was to give people’s “me’s” a better
reputation. The first step that I decided to do for this issue was to watch what I say about people.
In order to promote awareness for this type of bullying, I need to change the way I do things. At
first, it was a pretty difficult thing to do. I never realized how many times I bring people down
just using my words. “The importance of what we term “communication” lies in the fact that it
provides a form of behavior in which the organism or the individual may become an object to
himself” (Mead, 2012 p. 425). This quote really stuck out to me when I was trying to understand
my theory in relation to my issue. One of the main factors of a person’s identity stems from our
interaction with this person. According to Mead’s theory, we can define ours and other’s roles in
our society.
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A type of bullying that I see almost daily is social aggression. Social aggression can be
described as the bully purposely tries to harm one’s self esteem and their status in society. It can
range from spreading rumors to just glaring at another person (Bussey & Fitzpatrick, 2001, p.
177). Once I started paying attention to what others say about other people, I found out that
gossip is a huge part of our daily lives. Unfortunately, this type of slander can have a huge effect
on a person’s identity. What I decided to do is to recreate a person’s identity with some positive
feedback. When a person spoke poorly about another, I tried to refute that statement by saying
something good about that person. By doing this, I hoped that the bully in this situation might
view the victim in a better light. Hopefully, this person may start doing the same as well. I
wanted to make people aware that words have a huge effect on another. We should make sure
that the words we speak will not tear down a person, but rather help a person’s self –esteem.
I have been the victim of this type of bullying before and I know exactly how it feels to
be talked about. When people started doing this to me both my “I” and my “me” completely
changed. I started listening to the lies people said about me and I actually believed them. This is
another reason for my decision to pick bullying as my issue. I know what it is like to be a victim
of this horrific occurrence and I would never want anyone else to go though it as well. People
make mistakes constantly, however I still believe we should all treat people with kindness and to
never speak poorly about another.
The type of person I am today, is by the interactions I have encountered and participated
in. I gain my identity by what people think of me and how I view myself. In order for me to be
happy with this identity, I must fully participate in it. Without the enjoyment of my role in this
society, my self-esteem will be poor as a result of that. Unfortunately, bullies prefer the dominant
position. They gain this identity by picking on others with an audience around them. This is how
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this type of person becomes their identity. I believe it is very important to study this issue using a
sociologist’s perspective. This may be a good start to end this dilemma.
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Works Cited
Bacchini, D., Esposito, G, & Affuso, G. (2009). Social Experience and School Bullying. Journal
of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 19(1), 17-32.
Bullying Definition. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from
http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/definition/
Bussey, K. & Fitzpatrick, S. (2011). The Development of the Social Bullying Involvement
Scales. Aggressive Behavior, 37(2), 177-192.
Callero, P. (2003). The Sociology of the Self. Annual Review of Sociology, 29, 115-133.
George Herbert Mead. (n.d.). Social Theory Rewired. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from
http://routledgesoc.com/profile/george-herbert-mead
Longhofer, W. & Winchester, D. (2012). Social Theory Re-Wired: New connections to classical
and contemporary perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge.
MacDermid, S. & Marks, S. (1996). Multiple Roles and the Self: A theory of role balance.
Journal of Marriage and Family, 58(2), 417-432.
Sutton, J., Smith, P., & Swettenham, J. (1999). Bullying and ‘Theory of Mind’: A critique of the
‘social skills deficit’ view of anti‐social behaviour. Social Development, 8(1), 117-127.