The 5 types of bullying (causes and consequences)

Unfortunately, the word harassment is a very widespread term and one that we have all heard at some point. Harassment is an action that can manifest itself in many ways. A person who harasses another can make threats, rumors, physical or verbal attacks and can even favor the isolation and exclusion of the victim. This phenomenon can also be observed in a wide variety of settings. We can talk about bullying in schools, companies, romantic relationships, the media and even on the internet. For all these reasons, harassment is a universal and very frequent phenomenon.

Although bullying has existed forever, today society has developed a much greater sensitivity to this problem. Just a few decades ago, many harassment situations were normalized or kept secret. For this reason, it was usual that no measures were taken in this regard, favoring the victim's prolonged exposure to her aggressor. Thus, it was understood that bullying was an inevitable event and was even conceived as something to be expected in many cases. Examples of this are the vision of bullying as childish nonsense or workplace bullying as part of the hierarchy of power between boss and employee.

As we said, today this situation has begun to change. Harassment in its different forms is recognized as a crime, so it is an action punishable by a greater or lesser penalty depending on its severity. However, the most remarkable thing in recent times has gone beyond the legal plane, since we are talking about a whole change of mentality in the population.

An example of this is found in the famous Me Too movement against sexual harassment of women and in the increasingly rigorous measures and protocols applied to combat bullying in schools classrooms. Due to the importance of detecting and acting on this phenomenon, in this article we are going to review the main types of harassment to find out what each of them consists of.

• We recommend you read: "The 90 best phrases against xenophobia"

What kinds of harassment are there?

Next we are going to know the types of harassment that exist and their respective characteristics. In some cases, different types of harassment can occur simultaneously. For example, a teenager who is bullied in the classroom may also be receiving threats from her bullies on social media. The basis of all types of harassment always implies an asymmetry of power between the aggressor and the victim.

Many times this difference is given in a formal way, the clearest example being the relationship between a boss and his employee. In other cases, it is gradually being built, so that the aggressor is in charge of gradually diminishing the self-esteem and the feeling of security of his victim. This can be observed in bullying that occurs in relationships or in school bullying.

1. Bullying

Bullying, also known as bullying, is one of the most well-known and frequent types of bullying. This phenomenon has been widely investigated, because it occurs in practically all schools to a greater or lesser extent. Studies in this regard have favored bullying to be taken seriously and approached as the violence that it is.

Bullying generates devastating effects on the minor who suffers it, generating not only profound damage to their self-esteem, but also to their way of perceiving the world. Bullied children assume that they deserve the violence they suffer, that they do not have the right to healthy relationships with others and that, ultimately, they are never safe. For this reason, psychological problems such as anxiety and depression are common, with frequent somatizations related to the fear of going to class such as lack of appetite or sleep disturbances.

Bullying can take many forms, including insults, threats, humiliation and exclusion, but also physical attacks, theft of objects or spreading lies about the victim. The severity of the harassment happens because it is a violence that affects a minor in the process of psychological development. Therefore, an experience of this type, especially when it is not addressed, generates damage that can be sustained until adulthood.

At present, all centers are legally obliged to act in a situation of harassment in their classrooms. In addition, harassment is classified as a crime, so it can be reported. Of course, in addition to these measures, prevention work is essential. For this, it is crucial to work from an early age that favors the development of communication skills, assertiveness, empathy, conflict resolution, etc. Of course, you should also work with those students with difficult situations at home, since many minor aggressors act by pure imitation of the models they see at home.

2. Workplace harassment (mobbing)

Workplace bullying, also known as mobbing, shares many similarities with bullying, with the difference that this occurs in a work environment and not in an educational center. Workplace harassment can be very serious, because the victim is usually trapped in a threatening environment in which she is attacked by her aggressor every day.

This harassment can take two forms depending on the link between the aggressor and the victim. We speak of horizontal harassment when it occurs between people who hold similar positions, while the Vertical harassment occurs between people who occupy different positions in the hierarchy of power of the organization.

In any case, we are talking about a phenomenon that is especially common in developed countries. In recent years, a focus has been placed on this problem in order not only to intervene when it happens but also to prevent it. For it, working with the different members of the company is essential, promoting healthy work climates.

3. sexual harassment

This type of harassment is, unfortunately, also very well known. Sexual harassment has been covered in secrecy and stigma for many years, silencing the victims who have experienced it firsthand. However, in recent years, the Me Too movement has contributed to giving a voice to many people who have been harassed and did not find, at the time, the support, understanding and justice that they needed.

Sexual harassment is characterized by the aggressor harassing a person because of their sex. Harassment of this type may include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and any other type of verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Offensive comments towards women in general terms with a misogynistic character are also included as sexual harassment.

Although the most common form of sexual harassment is that of a male aggressor towards a female victim, the truth is that both can be a man or a woman and even both can be the same sex. The main problem regarding sexual harassment is that it often takes a very subtle form (comments, jokes ...), so that we are talking about behaviors that are not regulated by law and, therefore, cannot be qualified for legal purposes as harassment sexual.

In addition to these questions, sexual harassment is also difficult to detect as victims are often silenced by guilt, shame or fear of not being believed. For this reason, some companies are beginning to act in order to detect this phenomenon early to avoid prolonged suffering for the victim.

4. Online bullying or cyberbullying

Cyberbullying consists of intimidation through new technologies. Aggressions can occur on social networks, messaging and gaming platforms, mobile phones, etc. The end of the aggressors who act in this way is none other than to generate fear, humiliation or anger in the victim. Examples of this type of harassment include the spread of lies, the publication of compromised photographs of the victim Against her will, sending hurtful or threatening messages and impersonating the victim to act in networks on her behalf.

As we already discussed, the different types of harassment can appear together. Generally, cyberbullying tends to go hand in hand with bullying in person. However, for legal purposes cyberbullying is always easier to demonstrate because there is clear evidence of the attacks.

5. Police harassment

This term is used to refer to abusive behavior on the part of the different state security forces and bodies. Some professionals use their power to humiliate, blackmail, use disproportionate force, or threaten their victims. Although fortunately these cases do not represent the generality, when they happen they receive great attention due to the severity that imply, since these professionals have weapons that, used in inappropriate situations, can end someone's life innocent.

In addition, police harassment has been associated with phenomena such as racism, especially in the United States, where the population Black woman is more vulnerable to unjust assault by members of the police because of her color skin.