Bullying in the digital age

In this chapter an analysis of the environments in which bullying of adolescents manifests itself shall be proposed, with attention given to the new forms it has recently taken on, thanks to the use of technology. Starting with the idea that extremist and simplified positions distance us from an understanding of a phenomenon so complex as bullying in adolescents, we shall try and consider the risk factors that could be connected to the new communicative technology with the aim of understanding whether such risks depend on the characteristics of the technology itself or if they could have a facilitating or protective role instead of just a negative role. In fact, as well as the doubtful possibilities of experimentation and extension of the self and of the precious capacity offered to a person for entering in immediate contact with the rest of the world, electronic and internet communication can have such a profound fascination that they are considered a myth today not only for their beneficial implications, but also for their potentially pathological implications. Furthermore, the Daphne Project: “An investigation into new forms of bullying among European adolescents” shall be introduced. This project allowed for the ‘mapping’ of the phenomenon of traditional and cyberbullying in some European countries, some of the results of which are reported in this book. In particular, we shall be considering how cyberbullying presents elements of continuity with traditional bullying as well as also new elements. Hence, an observation of the different roles assumed by the principal protagonists of aggressive dynamics (the bully and the victim) is particularly significant since it allows us to observe both an overlapping of roles assumed in the two contexts and unexpected transpositions.