theories
Conflict Theory Karl Marx, the father of conflict theory, is easiest to understand from a visual perspective. Picture in your head a ladder. There are teens at the top of the ladder and they are considered ‘upper class’ or the popular teens. The people at the bottom of the ladder are the ‘lower class’ or sometimes called losers. The teens at the top really want to stay there and keep their status, as well as wanting to distance themselves from teens who are seen to be at the bottom. The teens at the bottom really want to climb up the social ladder so they can be more popular.
When we look at this from the perspective of cyber bullying, the conflict theory would say that conflict happens between these social levels and can cause cyber bullying. Teens will do what they need to do in order to increase their status. The actual cyber bullying that takes place signifies a social conflict that is unsolved and power that is unbalanced.
This makes so much sense when we look at teens at our own school. Conflicts seem to arise when status and power are unevenly distributed between groups or cliques. The cyber bullies that are in peer repress the poor teens that are at the bottom of the ladder and they do this to maintain the status quo, basically so they stay on top. It doesn’t seem to matter who they hurt a long the way.
When we look at this from the perspective of cyber bullying, the conflict theory would say that conflict happens between these social levels and can cause cyber bullying. Teens will do what they need to do in order to increase their status. The actual cyber bullying that takes place signifies a social conflict that is unsolved and power that is unbalanced.
This makes so much sense when we look at teens at our own school. Conflicts seem to arise when status and power are unevenly distributed between groups or cliques. The cyber bullies that are in peer repress the poor teens that are at the bottom of the ladder and they do this to maintain the status quo, basically so they stay on top. It doesn’t seem to matter who they hurt a long the way.
Labelling Theory was developed by Howard Becker and gives us another way to look at cyber bullies. This theory is based on the fact that people’s negative behaviours are “deviant” only because society labels them this. This simply means that the labels teens are given impact their own and other’s perceptions of them. This makes their behaviour deviant….according to Howard. This theory also believes that a teen is not bad because of their actions, but rather it is developed because people negatively judge a teen. Nobody is born bad, but social aspects of their peers constantly labelling them as bad. Doesn’t this sound familiar? It ends up basically being a self-fulfilling prophecy and these people then live up to their reputation! This theory also shares how the self-identity and behaviour of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. Think of how often this happens in a high school….”loser, nerd, geek, slut…” These teens who bully may be “A” students and/or are the athletic “jocks” and because of this, dismiss their actions and do not consider themselves to be bullies. Once teens are given this label, they tend to continue to live up to the name
Choice Theory Glasser, the father of Choice Theory and a school psychologist believes “people cannot be responsible for their behaviours, including psychological problems” (Kaner, 1993). His firm belief is that the true source of problems in individuals’ own choice and that we do things because of internal factors directing us. So does this mean teens who cyber bully are doing it because something inside them is telling them to do it? Does this make it ok? Looking at the from the perspective of a cycler bully, Glasser would say that they want to change the other person, who is the victim, by controlling their behaviour rather than choosing to control or change their own behaviour. This makes total sense to me! This theory definitely knows what it is talking about when it says that an individual has the competence to control only his own behaviours! Too bad they don’t! Why aren’t we using this theory at school as a way to deal with these problems? Glasser also believes that all behaviours aim to meet 5 basic needs, and basically cyber bullying aims to satisfy 1 or more of these needs. Most often, teens who cyber bully have behaviour problems in school, and this is related to them being unsuccessful and experiencing feelings of “being restrained in satisfying their basic needs” (Tanrikulu, 2014). Choice theory claims cyber bullies generally have the inability to have successful and satisfying relationships with one or more people important to them in their life, or attach themselves to other people.” (Tanrikulu, 2014). Also common in cyber bullies is those who are socially unaccepted by society and are loners who may have poor relationships with their parents. So what does this all mean? Basically, it just means that because of choice theory, we can explain the behaviour of cyber bullies as their inability to develop satisfying and healthy relationships. This is due to the fact that their need to belong and develop relationships are not met properly and this leads to an unsuccessful identity!
Social Disorganization Theory This theory states that crime and deviant behaviours are more likely to happen in a social institution that is unable to control groups of people. According to the social disorganization theory of social problems, the rapid changes in the media and technology have disrupted the norms in society. Facebook, Instagram, cell phones and other social networks have developed so quickly and have basically taken over! This is so true when we look at Walnut Grove. Teens have access to the social media all day while they are at school, so cyber bullying is taking place in this setting all day long! This theory would say that cyber bullying is an issue at the school level and the cyber bullying is a sign of the disorder of the behaviours and attitudes at a larger level.
General Detterence Theory This theory follows the belief that people are scared to break the law because they are very scared of the consequences that come with this. If we look at this from a school level, it makes so much sense! If we send a message to all the students at WGSS by making them fearful of the consequences if they cyber bully, they will be less likely to do this! If our purpose is to deter teens from cyber bullying, then we need harsh consequences to deter them from doing it again! Ultimately, this should be in a school policy for all to see and follow. As it stands now, most teens do not come forward when they are experiencing cyber bullying. If teens do not come forward, this issue cannot be addressed and those who cyber bully will not receive consequences, and therefore will most likely continue to cyber bully.
Anomie Theory Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, describes the anomie theory as the condition in which society has not provided much, if any moral guidance to individuals. He see it basically as a mismatch between a teen’s actions and the social norms of the society and that teens are a product of their environment. If we look at the anomie theory from the perspective of our school, this makes sense. Cyber bullies torment their victims and this makes it even harder for the victim to fit in to the school environment. This can lead to disastrous consequences. Who are these teens that are cyber bullying? Where are the parents when this is happening? Who is teaching these teens that it is morally not ok to cyber bully? Somewhere a long the line, these teens have not been morally guided by our society, community and perhaps family. This has led to disastrous impacts for those that are being bullied.