He origin of the word bullying it takes place in the English word bully, which means"bully"or fight seeker. The termination -ing indicates in English"the action of".
Translating into Spanish would mean tyrannizing or intimidating, but the general meaning that has been given in Spanish is the one referring to the harassment suffered by a person, especially the one given in the school setting.
On the other hand, the word bullying It is considered an anglicism and therefore is not recognized or accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy.
How does the word bullying appear in Spanish lexicon?
Being a word that contains more than a translation, it is a concept universally understood as aggression against another person. Some historians have established that it is a situation that takes place from ancient times, where the feudal lords denigrated their lovers.
The latter would mean that the etymology of the Dutch word would be considered boel, which means"lover"
Other authors attribute their etymology to the English word bully, but under the meaning of bluffing. From the English word, reference is made to people who, using their supposed superiority, exert coercion on those they consider physically or mentally weak.
It is not until the decade of the 70s, when the psychologist Dan Olweus made a study of the cases of school violence , publishing the book" Assaults in the School ", In which bullying refers to the harassment suffered in physical and / or verbal form by students, exercised individually or collectively.
After this publication, other researchers, such as María Eugenia Guédez, clinical psychologist, mediator of family conflicts and international organizational coach, added words derived from bullying, such as the word bullies to refer to the stalkers.
This has led to the fact that in Spanish the bullies are known as bullies, being their literal translation of English"thugs".
Bullying or mobbing?
Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, used the word mobbing to explain the mass attack of a group of animals towards another animal, generally occurring in groups of smaller animals against a larger animal.
Heinemann, Swedish doctor, used this term later to refer to the attack carried out by groups of children directed against a single child, usually observed in schools.
The study of this child behavior in schools has led to multiple studies, the most important being that of the psychologist Olweus, who according to some authors, initially used the term mobbing to later be changed to bullying.
For the animal group, the attack is given as a defense, while in the case of child behavior it is presented to demonstrate superiority and cause harm.
Leymann, conducting doctoral studies in occupational psychology, used the word bullying to explain workplace bullying, however, he later decided to use the word mobbing to differentiate it from school bullying, justifying the change by the characteristics presented.
According to Leymann, in bullying the harassment is physical, while in mobbing it is more psychological.
Conclusions
Undoubtedly, when studying the origin of the word bullying there is much to analyze, but what needs to be addressed is that it is called bullying or mobbing, physical and psychological harassment or abuse leaves serious consequences to the sufferer and therefore It is everyone's responsibility to fight against this destructive behavior.
References
- Boldrini A. (2014). "Bullying": a word that encloses a concept. La Voz, digital edition. Taken from lavoz.com.ar.
- Khoo, S. (2010). Academic Mobbing: Hidden Health Hazard at Workplace. Malaysian Family Physician: The Official Journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, 5 (2), 61-67. Taken from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Mobbing in Mexico - notes for its foundation. Mobbing: should we keep calling him that? Lorenz and Leymann revisited. Paper presented at the 11th Virtual Congress of Psychiatry Interpsiquis 2010, organized by psychiatrics.com, held from February 1 to 28, 2010. Taken from kwesthues.com.
- Online Etymology Dictionary. Bully. Taken from etymonline.com.
- S. Department of Health and Human Services. What Is Bullying. Taken from stopbullying.gov.