Bullying

The Social Destruction of Self

Laura Martocci

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781439910733, 9781439910726
• eBook ISBN: 9781439910740
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

In her forceful social history, Bullying, Laura Martocci explores the "bully culture" that has claimed national attention since the late 1990s. 
 
Moving beyond the identification of aggressive behaviors to an analysis of how and why we have arrived at a culture that thrives on humiliation, she critiques the social forces that gave rise to, and help maintain, bullying. Martocci's analysis of gossip, laughter, stereotyping, and competition—dynamics that foment bullying and prompt responses of shame, violence, and depression—is positioned within a larger social narrative: the means by which we negotiate damaged social bonds and the role that bystanders play in the possibility of atonement, forgiveness, and redemption.  
 
Martocci's fresh perspective on bullying positions shame as pivotal. She urges us to acknowledge the pain and confusion caused by social disgrace; to understand its social, psychological, and neurological nature; and to address it through narratives of loss, grief, and redemption—cultural supports that are already in place. 

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Cultural-Historical Foundations of Bullying Culture
• 2. Social Forces and Bullying
• 3. Shame and Identity
• 4. Grieving and Grief Work: Negotiating Social Pain and Personal Loss
• 5. Narrative Writing and the Reconstruction of Self
• 6. Tying Up Loose Ends: Challenges to Bystanders, Challenges of Cyberspace
• Postscript: Practical Suggestions
• Appendix A: The Uniqueness of Self and Personal Biography
• Appendix B: The Re-visioning of Liberation and Womanist Theologies
• Appendix C: Scheff and Retzinger: The Redemptive Role of Communication
• Appendix D: Lyn Lofland’s “Threads of Social Connectedness”
• Appendix E: The Dynamics Underlying Expressive Writing: Why Does It Work?
• Appendix F: Traumarama!, Seventeen Magazine, and Prepackaged Shame
• Notes
• References
• Index