Understanding Bullying Behaviour

To understand an incident of bullying and violence, it is important not to focus merely on the forms of aggressive behaviour, the numbers of aggressors and the distribution of power, but also the emotional states and motives of the aggressors.  Not all the aggressive behaviours are equivalent to bullying behaviours.  Aggressive behaviour can be categorized into two main subtypes: proactive aggression and reactive aggression.  In fact, the proactive aggressors are the real bullies.  Most of the so-called school bullying is actually school violence.  (Excerpted and translated from an article of Dr. Annis FUNG Lai Chu, Associate Professor at City University of Hong Kong.)

To further prevent school bullying, schools should understand the subtypes of aggressors and victims and provide appropriate counseling.

• Subtypes of Aggressors
  • Proactive Aggressors
    • http://www.cityu.edu.hk/projectcare/en/proactive_aggressor.html
  •  Reactive Aggressors
    • http://www.cityu.edu.hk/projectcare/en/reactive_aggressor.html

• Subtypes of Victims
  • Aggressive Victims
    • http://www.cityu.edu.hk/projectcare/en/aggressive_victim.html
  •  Pure Victims
    • http://www.cityu.edu.hk/projectcare/en/passive_victim.html

• Handling and Counseling
  • “Aggressors” (Education Television, EDB)https://www.hkedcity.net/etv/en/resource/551615054 
    CHI
  • “Victims” (Education Television, EDB)https://www.hkedcity.net/etv/resource/2071669543 
    CHI
  • Individual and Group Counseling 

Information Source:

Project C.A.R.E.: Children and Adolescents at Risk Education (Quality Education Fund Project)