Causes and Health Impacts of Bullying (Essay Sample)

Student Name Lecturer’s Name Course Name and Number Date Submitted Causes and Health Impacts of Bullying Bullying is a critical problem affecting the health and well-being of people in all age groups. Bias (57) presents bullying as a persistent issue in nursing schools and the nursing career. Otherwise known as rational aggression, lateral violence, or horizontal hostility, bullying delineates recurrent, unwanted actions with the intent of offending, humiliating, or causing distress in the recipient. This paper discusses the causes of bullying and its health impacts on the recipient or victim. CAUSES OF BULLYING Bullying is said to take place when individuals perceive to face negative behaviours or actions from others for a while (Goldblum 16). Often, bullying is carried out by people or an individual against others who feel powerless or unable to defend themselves from the abusive encounter (Ian 64). Following Miller's argument, bullying situations often have three things in common, including the negative outcomes in the form of feeling abused or offended, stressed or intimidated; the persistent or recurrent nature of the bullying behaviour; and the perception of being bullied as experienced by the recipient (Miller 6). Importantly, various factors have been found to increase the chances of bullying behaviour, including social status, power imbalance, fear of being perceived as imperfect, emotional issues, and jealousy. Each of these elements will be discussed briefly below. Social Status. Social status is a leading risk factor for exposure to bullying experiences, and this is backed by empirical evidence. For example, in a discussion of bullying behaviour in learning institutions, Miller (241) argues that social status plays a major role in the formation of social groups that have strong in-group and out-group attitudes. In Ian’s explanation, out-group beliefs entail attitudinal notions that reinforce the separation between members of a social group from the outside (Ian 81). Prejudice may result from the need to maintain social structures through shared beliefs, which may pave the way to trigger behavioural responses in the form of discrimination and, therefore, bullying behaviour. Accordingly, the relationship between people from different social statuses may encompass a kind of power imbalance where people from higher social status may view themselves as more deserving and powerful than those from lower social status (Goldblum 12). This kind of relationship may support the development of an environment that supports repeated abusive behaviour against people of lower social status. While the direction of bullying behaviour may vary and sometimes move from people from lower social status to those of higher social status, the hostile relationship is usually a reflection of perceived power imbalance where one group or representatives thereof seek to have control over the out-group. As a result, an individual may be exposed to persistent and repeated abusive behaviour to an extent that they feel unable to defend themselves. Fear of Exposure. The fear of exposure is another risk factor of bullying, but in this case, the person who fears is the one who takes the offensive position. As witnessed in the testimonies of most young perpetrators of abusive behaviours, bullying behaviour is often an attempt to cover an imperfection (Bias 58). Many children and adult perpetrators of bullying behaviour often have individual battles that they tend to mask by projecting a perfect, or, sometimes, fearful image. For example, children exposed to domestic violence or those from families battling alcoholism, mental health issues, or social problems are at risk of exhibiting abusive behaviour against others as a way of hiding their imperfections or an attempt to bring others (mostly the ones they envy) to their level. Emotional Issues. It is also worth noting that bullying may be a sign of emotional issues and jealousy, mostly projected as uncontrollable anger. According to Navarro (243), the notion that bullies subject others to maltreatment is often an indication of emotional issues and an inability to control anger. Many people who are capable of mistreating others recurrently have anger issues that may relate to their personal life encounters. This implies that perpetrators of bullying behaviours are sufferers similar to the people they are subject to unkind treatment. Nonetheless, jealousy may cause people to have an emotional outburst against others, which may present as bullying. Jealousy entails envying others and being hostile against people one thinks to enjoy an advantage. HEALTH IMPACTS OF BULLYING Bullying may have negative implications on the health and well-being of the bully as well as the received of the bullying behaviour (Miller, 19). In most cases, people who get bullied experience hopelessness and powerlessness, which may gradually turn into anger and lead to retaliation. Victim of bullying reaches a breaking point such as mass shooting or resorting to other forms of violence. Based on statistics of school violence, many perpetrators of mass shootings in schools have done so as retaliation against offending, humiliating, and distressful acts (Ian 82). This being said, bullying is viewed to affect mental emotional and physical emotional health, influencing people's ability to manage or cope with emotions and to have positive relationships (Goldblum 4). Bullying affects mental emotions and causes mental health issues such as suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, fear, and loneliness/social isolation among victims of bullying (Fossati 334). The relationship between bullying and suicidal thoughts is because the subjection to unwanted acts or treatment over and over again may cause distress to a level that one may not want to have any further encounters with the bully or the embarrassing scenario. The fear of encountering bullying or the post-traumatic stress associated with it may be a risk factor for depression, anxiety, and other mental issues (Sagar & Mahadev 955). Bullying may also hurt the self-esteem of the victim putting them at risk of depression, anxiety and fear. The holistic health model of health visualizes life as comprising multidimensional aspects of wellness, including mental, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical health (Fossati 327). The meaning herein is that poor health in any of the five aspects affects the w...