Bullied: Tales of Torment, Identity, and Youth

Description

In this examination of the ubiquitous practice of bullying among youth, compelling first person stories vividly convey the lived experience of peer torment and how it impacted the lives of five diverse young women. Author Keith Berry’s own autoethnographic narratives and analysis add important relational communication, methodological, and ethical dimensions to their accounts. The personal stories create an opening to understand how this form of physical and verbal violence shapes identities, relationships, communication, and the construction of meaning among a variety of youth. The layered narrative describes the practices constituting bullying and how youth work to cope with peer torment and its aftermath, largely focusing on identity construction and well being; addresses contemporary cyberbullying as well as other forms of relational aggression in many social contexts across race, gender, and sexual orientations; is written in a compelling way to be accessible to students in communication, education, psychology, social welfare, and other fields. Cover ......Page 1 Half Title ......Page 2 Title Page ......Page 6 Copyright Page ......Page 7 Table of Contents ......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 13 1 Bullying: A Narrative Opening to a Relational Problem......Page 16 2 Cutting Through: The Journey and Horror of Finding Self-Love......Page 42 Reflexive Interlude 1: The Little Professor......Page 57 3 Pure Evil Entertainment......Page 65 Reflexive Interlude 2: Rope Burn......Page 79 4 Flying Tomatoes: Cruella’s Clash with the Dalmatians......Page 89 Reflexive Interlude 3: Stretch......Page 105 5 Highlight Girl: Finding Strength in Her Weak Soul......Page 116 Reflexive Interlude 4: Of Frogs and Friends......Page 129 6 A Narrative on Bullying and Rape......Page 140 Reflexive Interlude 5: Bennies on the Floor......Page 151 7 Opened: Bullying Communication and Identities, and the Power of Stories......Page 161 Appendix......Page 180 References......Page 187 Index......Page 196