Abstract
Echoes of being bullied – a longitudinal narrative study on life stories after
the experience of systematic victimization at school
This study examines narratives as told by 8 victims of school bullying. These stories are about self, life and growth, and they were collected from the same informants mostly by written interviews and story requests over a period of 11 years. This qualitative research is narrative and longitudinal, and its aim is to explore what kind of life-stories the victims of school bullying may tell and what sort of instant and long- term consequences victimization may cause.
Narrativity spans the entire research material and the results of this study. All stories are first analyzed by narrative analysis and using the holistic analysis of con- tent to generate the major themes in each story. Thus, the life stories of the narrators are reconstructed by these central themes and contents using positioning theory as a method of analysis. After that the re-written stories are explored by analysis of narrative applying the holistic-form view to identify the plot of each narrative. The plots can be seen as progressive, regressive or stable, depending on one’s coping and positioning as the main character of their own story. Finally, the original stories are examined by categorical-content analysis of narrative as a method to find out the instant and long-term effects of bullying victimization. These consequences include low self-esteem, distorted self-image, mental health issues, emotional difficulties, awkwardness in social relationships and interaction, and in some cases, the whole life career.
According to my findings, victimization may be seen by the victim as an asset and an instructive experience, or it can cause pain and chronic depression, for instance. Depending on the individual, victimization can be both positive and negative force in life; the position given for the victim of bullying may change over the years. Most of the stories in this study can be classified as progressive accounts of survival. In three stories, the subject loses their position as the protagonist of their own story and drifts to the position of a bystander. One of them relinquishes the opportunity to live their own life in order to maintain even one relationship in their otherwise lonely life.
Based on this study, victimization in childhood and youth may lead to victimization also in adulthood: the majority of my informants have experienced systematic mistreatment at workplace or in close relationships in their later life. Re-positioning as a victim in adulthood, suffering psychological problems or experiencing uncertainty in social interaction do not necessarily conduct one’s life-story to a regressive narrative: instead a person’s general attitude and their own agency may turn the story line from struggle to a progressive survival story.
the experience of systematic victimization at school
This study examines narratives as told by 8 victims of school bullying. These stories are about self, life and growth, and they were collected from the same informants mostly by written interviews and story requests over a period of 11 years. This qualitative research is narrative and longitudinal, and its aim is to explore what kind of life-stories the victims of school bullying may tell and what sort of instant and long- term consequences victimization may cause.
Narrativity spans the entire research material and the results of this study. All stories are first analyzed by narrative analysis and using the holistic analysis of con- tent to generate the major themes in each story. Thus, the life stories of the narrators are reconstructed by these central themes and contents using positioning theory as a method of analysis. After that the re-written stories are explored by analysis of narrative applying the holistic-form view to identify the plot of each narrative. The plots can be seen as progressive, regressive or stable, depending on one’s coping and positioning as the main character of their own story. Finally, the original stories are examined by categorical-content analysis of narrative as a method to find out the instant and long-term effects of bullying victimization. These consequences include low self-esteem, distorted self-image, mental health issues, emotional difficulties, awkwardness in social relationships and interaction, and in some cases, the whole life career.
According to my findings, victimization may be seen by the victim as an asset and an instructive experience, or it can cause pain and chronic depression, for instance. Depending on the individual, victimization can be both positive and negative force in life; the position given for the victim of bullying may change over the years. Most of the stories in this study can be classified as progressive accounts of survival. In three stories, the subject loses their position as the protagonist of their own story and drifts to the position of a bystander. One of them relinquishes the opportunity to live their own life in order to maintain even one relationship in their otherwise lonely life.
Based on this study, victimization in childhood and youth may lead to victimization also in adulthood: the majority of my informants have experienced systematic mistreatment at workplace or in close relationships in their later life. Re-positioning as a victim in adulthood, suffering psychological problems or experiencing uncertainty in social interaction do not necessarily conduct one’s life-story to a regressive narrative: instead a person’s general attitude and their own agency may turn the story line from struggle to a progressive survival story.
| Original language | Finnish |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Tampere |
| Publisher | Tampere University |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-952-03-2847-4 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-952-03-2846-7 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
| Publication type | G4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph) |
Publication series
| Name | Tampere University Dissertations - Tampereen yliopiston väitöskirjat |
|---|---|
| Volume | 778 |
| ISSN (Print) | 2489-9860 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2490-0028 |
Keywords
- modernization, anti-modern modernism, experience, farmhouses, to dwell, 1920s, 1930s
