Meanings of bullying from the perspective of bystanders

Abstract

The study sought to identify the meaning that students bystanders on bullying have of the phenomenon. As information gathering strategy were used focus group within Qualitative methodology. Narratives analyzed with the NVivo software and interpreted with thematic networks, which allowed identify five global issues: bullying as abuse, bully as victim, exercise of power, naturalization of intimidation and perception of alternative solutions. It is argued that bystanders do not differentiate situations of bullying; they perceive that teachers and parents legitimize those practices and they considered that institutional measures are ineffective, indicating keys to guide prevention and intervention.