- School Bullying, Bullying, Education, Vietnam, Ethnography, Anthropology, and 16 moreMasculinity Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Sociology of Education, Masculinities, Mobbing, Cyber Bullying, School, Pedagogy, Fieldwork, Homophobic Bullying, Critical sociology and politics of education, Classroom Interaction, Classroom Management, Teaching and Learning, Learning and Teaching, and Critical Pedagogyedit
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Background: Despite considerable anti-bullying efforts and greater awareness of the social processes underpinning bullying, bullying is still a serious problem across schools in many countries. In exploring the social processes that... more
Background: Despite considerable anti-bullying efforts and greater awareness of the social processes underpinning bullying, bullying is still a serious problem across schools in many countries. In exploring the social processes that contribute to school bullying, research indicates complex relationships between bullying and the maintenance and building of friendships. While such findings provide important information about the social context of school bullying, more needs to be understood about the institutional context within which school bullying-and friendship-occur. Purpose: The aim of this study is to better understand how school bullying relates to friendship processes, and how these are, in turn, influenced by the institutional constraints of the school context. Method: The findings discussed draw on 3 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted at one Swedish elementary school. The fieldwork involved participant observations, as well as semi-structured group interviews with 34 sixth-grade pupils (approx. 12 years of age), which were conducted towards the end of the fieldwork. Data were analysed thematically. Findings: The analysis highlighted the importance of friendships to pupils but also identified the ways in which understandings of friendship relations were closely tied to the importance of social perceptions and the organisational constraints of the school context. Conclusions: Taken together, the findings suggest that school bullying cannot be de-contextualised from the social and institutional contexts of school but may rather be connected to the perceived need for control in that particular arena. The study draws attention to how the complex relations between bullying, friendship and school context need to be better understood, in order to support efforts to prevent school bullying.
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Recent political, legal and social shifts in relation to the rights and recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in Vietnam have facilitated increasing openness about the non-heteronormative preferences... more
Recent political, legal and social shifts in relation to the rights and recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in Vietnam have facilitated increasing openness about the non-heteronormative preferences of young adults. However, established societal and familial norms related to the importance of heteronormative marriage and family values continue to impact significantly on the ways in which these young adults are able to live their lives. In this chapter, we examine young Vietnamese LGBTQ adults’ experiences of face-to-face encounters and their navigation of social interactions. The chapter is based on ethnographic fieldwork which involved semi-structured group and individual interviews with young women aged 20 to 29 who identified as lesbian, bisexual and/or queer, as well as employees at nongovernmental organizations dealing with LGBTQ issues and politics. The chapter sheds light on the ways in which young LGBTQ adults engage in impression management in order to “keep face” and not “lose face,” reducing their own vulnerability while also protecting their parents and upholding the collective face of the family.
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The article explores 5th and 6th grade pupils' reflections on why pupils may refrain from intervening in bullying, despite understanding that bullying is wrong. The findings are based on focus group interviews conducted with 74 Swedish... more
The article explores 5th and 6th grade pupils' reflections on why pupils may refrain from intervening in bullying, despite understanding that bullying is wrong. The findings are based on focus group interviews conducted with 74 Swedish school pupils, who were asked for their perspectives on the various participant roles depicted in a bullying vignette. The findings were analysed using methods from constructivist grounded theory and through the theoretical lens of Goffman's concept of social stigma. The interviewees emphasised the implications of being positioned as the 'victim' , including being socially stigmatised, isolated, denigrated and further bullied, and suggested that the fear of being 'singled out' would be a main concern for pupils, and hence the driving force behind why they may refrain from intervening in defence of a victimised peer. The study thus highlights the associated processes of social stigmatisation and the non-intervention of pupils in school bullying situations.
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In this qualitative study, we explore teachers’ perspectives on spatiality, school design and school bullying. The study is part of a larger, ongoing ethnographic research project into the relations between school bullying and the... more
In this qualitative study, we explore teachers’ perspectives on spatiality, school design and school bullying. The study is part of a larger, ongoing ethnographic research project into the relations between school bullying and the institutional context of schooling being conducted in schools in Sweden, focusing on the perspectives of teachers and students from pre-school class up to grade eight. The findings from this particular study are based on participant observations and semi-structured interviews with teachers from pre-school class to grade six (i.e. approx. ages 5-13) at three schools in Sweden. The findings demonstrate that environmental, social and structural elements of school spaces affect both social relations between students and teachers’ ability to prevent school bullying. Taken as a whole, the study highlights the importance of looking beyond the issue of supervision in schools and considering in more detail the ways in which spatiality and school design influence school bullying and preventative work in schools.
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The past 30 years has seen a significant increase in research interest and public discussion about school bullying and an associated diversification in perspectives on the issue. In attempting to bridge divisions between different... more
The past 30 years has seen a significant increase in research interest and public discussion about school bullying and an associated diversification in perspectives on the issue. In attempting to bridge divisions between different research paradigms, there have been calls for cross-paradigmatic dialogue. In this short think piece, I seek to facilitate such dialogue by addressing the question of power and considering its analytical implications for school bullying research, anti-bullying initiatives, and education more generally. In doing so, I relate the discussion to the various systems of the widely used social–ecological framework. I argue that a focus on power suggests a need for more consideration of the various levels of the social–ecological framework, more consideration of the importance of social difference, and more consideration of the importance of the school context and issues of power and resistance therein.
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The aim of the study was to examine Swedish school pupils’ perspectives on why some pupils engage in bullying, support bullying or avoid standing up for the one(s) being bullied, despite a shared understanding that bullying is wrong.... more
The aim of the study was to examine Swedish school pupils’ perspectives on why some pupils engage in bullying, support bullying or avoid standing up for the one(s) being bullied, despite a shared understanding that bullying is wrong. Through the use of focus group interviews combined with two bullying vignettes, a total of 74 pupils from grades 5 and 6 (i.e. 11–12 years of age) from two public primary schools in socioeconomically diverse areas were asked for their perspectives on various participant roles in bullying. In interpreting the vignette scenario, the participants emphasised the importance of perceived coolness, as well as the risk of being bullied. In seeking to avoid becoming a ‘victim’ of bullying, the situational roles of ‘bully’, ‘assistant’, ‘reinforcer’ and ‘outsider’ were understood as potential means for promoting, maintaining or protecting one’s own social position. The findings of the study challenge previous understandings of bullying as an act of harmful or aggressive intentionality and rather highlight the relational and situational aspects of bullying.
Although Vietnamese society is currently undergoing significant changes with regards to the rights and perceptions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (GLBTQ) people, dominant socio-cultural norms related to gender,... more
Although Vietnamese society is currently undergoing significant changes with regards to the rights and perceptions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (GLBTQ) people, dominant socio-cultural norms related to gender, sexuality, and the importance of the patrilineal family regime continue to cast a shadow over the lives of GLBTQ in contemporary Vietnam. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the urban centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as legal documents and secondary sources, this article illustrates how dominant heteronormative socio-cultural norms have contributed to the political, legal, and social exclusion of same-sex sexualities through a process of outlawing, whereby GLBTQ have been systematically excluded from the rights of law. Drawing on qualitative interviews with gay men and lesbian women between the ages of 20 and 50, the article also highlights how this relation of domination has allowed for instances of GLBTQ resistance, through subversive opposition, strategies of avoidance, and the seeking out of new opportunities in urban spaces outside the dominant sociality. The article thus provides a qualitatively nuanced account of family politics and GLBTQ resistance in urban Vietnam at a significant socio-political historical juncture.
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Pride parades, LGBT rights demonstrations, and revisions to the Marriage and Family Law highlight the extent to which norms and values related to gender, sexuality, marriage, and the family have recently been challenged in Vietnam. They... more
Pride parades, LGBT rights demonstrations, and revisions to the Marriage and Family Law highlight the extent to which norms and values related to gender, sexuality, marriage, and the family have recently been challenged in Vietnam. They also illuminate the gendered power relations being played out in the socio-cultural context of Vietnam, and thus open up for a more in-depth consideration of the ways in which LGBT people have experienced and resisted these relations in everyday life. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Vietnam's two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, in 2012, this article discusses the relations between these power relations, the dominant Vietnamese discourse of masculinity, or masculinism, and the politics of recognition. In particular, it focuses on the ways in which Vietnamese gay men have resisted heteronormative normalising practices in their search for the recognition of self and others. Utilising the local term bóng, or ‘shadow’, the article highlights the ways in which light and shadow can be used metaphorically to understand gay men's struggles for the recognition of self and others in contemporary Vietnam.
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Despite a vast amount of research into school bullying and the widespread implementation of anti-bullying policies and programs, large numbers of students continue to report that they are routinely subjected to bullying by their peers. In... more
Despite a vast amount of research into school bullying and the widespread implementation of anti-bullying policies and programs, large numbers of students continue to report that they are routinely subjected to bullying by their peers. In this theoretical article, I argue that part of the problem is that there has been a lack of critical discussion of the theoretical foundations upon which such studies are based. Drawing on recent theoretical contributions within the field of school bullying, the work of anthropologist James C. Scott, and the work of philosophers Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben, I take particular issue with the notion of power that has long been a foundational pillar of bullying definitions. Utilizing a Foucauldian understanding of power, I argue that rather than focusing on the power imbalance involved in bullying relations, focus instead needs to shift onto the role that bullying plays in power relations. Reimagining Agamben’s figure of homo sacer as a victim of school bullying, I consider the ways in which some individuals are reduced to bare life and forced into a state of exception whereby social laws are no longer deemed applicable. The article concludes with a discussion of how this state of exception might be challenged.
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This theoretical article posits a critical educational perspective on school bullying, whereby focus shifts from the individuals involved to the structural aspects of schooling. The article draws inspiration from critical pedagogy and the... more
This theoretical article posits a critical educational perspective on school bullying, whereby focus shifts from the individuals involved to the structural aspects of schooling. The article draws inspiration from critical pedagogy and the sociology of education to critically consider how power relations in schools relate to school bullying through a theorization of the importance of
four features of schooling outlined by Duncan (2013): compulsion, compression, control, and competition. The article suggests that rather than merely studying the negative social interactions of individuals or groups
of individuals, there needs to be more critical consideration of the educational context within which bullying occurs.
four features of schooling outlined by Duncan (2013): compulsion, compression, control, and competition. The article suggests that rather than merely studying the negative social interactions of individuals or groups
of individuals, there needs to be more critical consideration of the educational context within which bullying occurs.
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This article considers the ways in which school bullying is both gendered and embodied. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two lower-secondary schools in northern Vietnam, the article focuses on the experiences of one... more
This article considers the ways in which school bullying is both gendered and embodied. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two lower-secondary schools in northern Vietnam, the article focuses on the experiences of one ninth-grade boy, who was regularly bullied by his classmates, and whose experiences of bullying appeared to be embodied for all to see. Inspired by Arthur Brittan’s notion of masculinism, Elizabeth Grosz’s use of the möbius strip metaphor for understanding embodiment, and Urie Bronfenbrenner’s conceptualization of the ecological environment, I argue that school bullying needs to be understood not only in terms of the interactions between individuals or groups of individuals, but also in terms of the specific gendered social-ecological environment within which those interactions occur.
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Education, Educational Research, Social-Ecological Systems, Gender, and 15 moreMicrosystems, Bullying, School Bullying, Masculinities, Vietnam, Social Ecology, School, Bronfenbrenner, Victims, Masculinism, Vietnamese studies, Boys education, Urie Bronfenbrenner, Bullies, and Macrosystems
Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in two schools in northern Vietnam, this chapter suggests understanding and addressing school bullying as a generational problem rather than one of individual children. It demonstrates that... more
Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in two schools in northern Vietnam, this chapter suggests understanding and addressing school bullying as a generational problem rather than one of individual children. It demonstrates that school bullying is intricately connected to manifestations of power in the deeply generational organisation of schools, and to the ways in which both children and adults exercise their agency in this social environment by drawing on age-related hierarchies, bodily size, and physical strength. Employing the concept of the hidden curriculum, the chapter suggests that some students learn to utilise bullying as a means through which they can influence the behaviour of others and thus more easily navigate their way through school, both socially and scholastically.
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This article critically considers the discourse on school bullying through the conceptual framework of lenses and argues that a macro lens has been utilised by school bullying researchers to bring into focus the characteristics of the... more
This article critically considers the discourse on school bullying through the conceptual framework of lenses and argues that a macro lens has been utilised by school bullying researchers to bring into focus the characteristics of the individuals involved and the types of actions used. By considering earlier understandings of bullying, the article illustrates how this macro lens has become a metalens through which school bullying is understood. This has had implications for how bullying is understood and addressed, as well as for how vast numbers of school-aged children are perceived and treated. The article argues that the macro lens needs to be replaced with a wide-angle lens, so as to bring the social, institutional and societal contexts into view.
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While recent LGBT rights demonstrations and discussions about same-sex marriage have thrust the issue of homosexuality into the spotlight, it was not long ago that the issue of homosexuality was notable by its absence in Vietnam. Drawing... more
While recent LGBT rights demonstrations and discussions about same-sex marriage have thrust the issue of homosexuality into the spotlight, it was not long ago that the issue of homosexuality was notable by its absence in Vietnam. Drawing on semistructured interviews with young gay, lesbian and bisexual people in Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi, this paper considers the increasing visibility of homosexuality through the theoretical lens of recognition, and illustrates the heterosexist misrecognition that LGBT young people have been subjected to in legislation, the media, their families, and through the education system. Drawing on the narratives of LGBT young people, the paper highlights the potentially negative impact such misrecognition may have on psychological and social wellbeing.
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While researchers agree that note passing is predominantly an activity engaged in by girls, there has been relatively little consideration of why this is the case. In this article, I argue that gendered expectations about the appropriate... more
While researchers agree that note passing is predominantly an activity engaged in by girls, there has been relatively little consideration of why this is the case. In this article, I argue that gendered expectations about the appropriate characters of boys and girls in Vietnam are incorporated into the disciplinary framework of schools, and that note passing provides the means for girls to adjust to the gendered disciplinary techniques to which they are subjected. The article is based on extended ethnographic fieldwork conducted within two ninth-grade classes at two lower secondary schools in the northern Vietnamese port city of Haiphong.
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This article provides a theoretical consideration of the ways in which school bullying relates to social and moral orders and the relations of power that are central to the upholding of such orders. Moving away from the focus on... more
This article provides a theoretical consideration of the ways in which school bullying relates to social and moral orders and the relations of power that are central to the upholding of such orders. Moving away from the focus on individual aggressive intentionality that has hitherto dominated school bullying research, the article argues that understanding the social processes of bullying requires not only understanding bullying as a group interactional process but also how such interaction is part of power relations within both the immediate context of the school and the wider society.
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This article considers the ways in which hegemonic masculinity has been constituted in New Zealand through a configuration of both historically contextualised practices at the regional level, and daily practice at the local level. In... more
This article considers the ways in which hegemonic masculinity has been constituted in New Zealand through a configuration of both historically contextualised practices at the regional level, and daily practice at the local level. In doing so, the article critically readdresses the concept of hegemonic masculinity and how it has been used, and suggests that the concept needs to be re-situated in the context in which it is being used as a theoretical tool. The article posits a way of addressing hegemonic masculinity that involves searching for traces at both the regional and local levels, through a combination of historical and ethnographic analysis. In doing so, the article argues that it becomes possible to consider how practices at the local level intersect with those at the regional (and global) level. With specific focus on one all-boys’ school in the South Island of New Zealand, the article attempts to do just that, before considering how hegemonic masculinity is policed by boys in their daily interactions.
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"Bullied into it: Bullying, Power and the Conduct of Conduct takes issue with the way in which the relations between school bullying and power have commonly been understood. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two... more
"Bullied into it: Bullying, Power and the Conduct of Conduct takes issue with the way in which the relations between school bullying and power have commonly been understood. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two schools in the northern Vietnamese port city of Haiphong, the book contextually situates the bullying that occurs within the disciplinary framework of the school and focuses not only on the bullying that occurs between students but also that which occurs between teachers and students.
This situated analysis of school bullying illustrates how different educational practices reduce, encourage, and even constitute bullying, as well as the various ways in which bullying is utilized by some students and teachers as a means to exercise, enforce and contest relations of power in schools. The book thus contributes significant knowledge about the importance of the educational context and the role of teachers, and raises pertinent questions about the ways in which school bullying has hitherto been researched and understood. Shifting the focus from the specific actions meted out by particular individuals to the power relations within which those actions gain currency, the book questions the notion that bullying merely involves an unequal power relation and instead highlights that bullying relations are power relations."
This situated analysis of school bullying illustrates how different educational practices reduce, encourage, and even constitute bullying, as well as the various ways in which bullying is utilized by some students and teachers as a means to exercise, enforce and contest relations of power in schools. The book thus contributes significant knowledge about the importance of the educational context and the role of teachers, and raises pertinent questions about the ways in which school bullying has hitherto been researched and understood. Shifting the focus from the specific actions meted out by particular individuals to the power relations within which those actions gain currency, the book questions the notion that bullying merely involves an unequal power relation and instead highlights that bullying relations are power relations."