Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Juridification and the Ungendering of School Bullying

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Policing Schools: School Violence and the Juridification of Youth

Part of the book series: Young People and Learning Processes in School and Everyday Life ((YPLP,volume 2))

Abstract

In this chapter, we address the juridification of school violence in the Swedish context by focusing in particular on the issue of school bullying (skolmobbning) and gendered perceptions of difference. Drawing on Swedish legal and educational documents, we consider the ways in which school bullying has been ungendered through its legal separation from discrimination (diskriminering) and harassment (trakasserier), and its reduction to a form of degrading treatment (kränkande behandling) against someone’s dignity. We discuss how this legal ungendering of school bullying as something unconnected to issues of social difference is in keeping with a shift within school bullying research from being distinctly gender blind to being somewhat gender essentialist. Drawing on the work of gender researchers, we problematize dominant conceptualisations of sex/gender ‘roles’ through a discussion of power relations. In doing so, we argue that the juridification of school bullying serves to apportion blame to the individual school children involved, without adequately accounting for the importance of dominant gendered societal norms and the extent to which school bullying may often be a form of ‘normative cruelty’ that is socially learned and underpinned by dominant gendered discourses. Furthermore, we argue that such an account is necessary for understanding bystander behaviour and the ‘social exclusion anxiety’ that fuels and perpetuates negative behaviour in schools.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Axelsson, J. (2018, February 23). Pojken hamnade på sjukhus efter mobbarnas attack. Expressen. https://www.expressen.se/omtalat/pojken-hamnade-pa-sjukhus-efter-mobbarnas-attack/. Accessed 4 Apr 2018.

  • Barn- och elevombudet. (2016). 10 år med BEO – 10 miljoner till utsatta elever. Stockholm: Barn- och elevombudet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besag, V. (2006). Bullying among girls: Friends or foes? School Psychology International, 27, 535–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beselin, B. (1986). Enkätundersökning av mobbningssituationen i Lunds grundskolor våren 1986. Lund: Lunds Kommun.

    Google Scholar 

  • Björkqvist, K., Lagerspetz, K., & Kaukiainen, A. (1992). Do girls manipulate and boys fight? Developmental trends in regard to direct and indirect aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 18(2), 117–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brischetto, L. (2018, February 25). Advokaten: “Det är helt orimligt”. Mitt i. https://mitti.se/nyheter/advokaten-helt-orimligt/. Accessed 22 Mar 2018.

  • Carrera, M., DePalma, R., & Lameiras, M. (2011). Toward a more comprehensive understanding of bullying in school settings. Educational Psychology Review, 23(4), 479–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrera-Fernández, M., Lameiras-Fernández, M., & Rodríguez-Castro, Y. (2018). Performing intelligible genders through violence: Bullying as gender practice and heteronormative control. Gender and Education, 30(3), 341–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrigan, T., Connell, B., & Lee, J. (1985). Toward a new sociology of masculinity. Theory and Society, 14(5), 551–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crick, N., & Grotpeter, J. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66(3), 710–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crothers, L., Field, J., & Kolbert, J. (2005). Navigating power, control, and being nice: Aggression in adolescent girls’ friendships. Journal of Counseling & Development, 83, 349–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Currie, D., Kelly, D., & Pomerantz, S. (2007). ‘The power to squash people’: Understanding girls’ relational aggression. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 28(1), 23–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, L. (1984). Pupil power: Deviance & gender in school. London: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickson, S. (2017, October 28). Fridolin om utredningar av sextrakasserier i skolan: “Systemfel i dag”. Aftonbladet. https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/vEzRX/fridolin-om-utredningar-av-sextrakasserier-i-skolan-systemfel-i-dag. Accessed 15 Mar 2018.

  • Duncan, N. (1999). Sexual bullying: Gender conflict and pupil bullying in secondary schools. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyrefors Grufman, C. (2017). Vi vill utreda sexuella trakasserier i skolan. Barn- och elevombudet. https://beo.skolinspektionen.se/sv/Nyheter/vi-vill-utreda-sexuella-trakasserier-i-skolan. Accessed 16 Feb 2018.

  • Ekström, M. (2018, February 23). Skola får kritik efter hantering av kränkningar. 24 Trelleborg. http://24trelleborg.se/2018/02/23/skola-far-kritik-efter-hantering-av-krankningar/. Accessed 12 Mar 2018.

  • Eriksen, I., & Lyng, S. (2018). Relational aggression among boys: Blind spots and hidden dramas. Gender and Education, 30(3), 396-409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksson, B., Lindberg, O., Flygare, E., & Daneback, K. (2002). Skolan – en arena för mobbning. Stockholm: Skolverket.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felix, E., & Greif Green, J. (2010). Popular girls and brawny boys. The role of gender in bullying and victimization experiences. In S. Jimerson, S. Swearer, & D. Espelage (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 173–186). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flygare, E., Frånberg, G., Gill, P., Johansson, B., Lindberg, O., Osbeck, C., & Söderström, Å. (2011). Utvärdering av metoder mot mobbning. Stockholm: Skolverket.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsberg, C., Thornberg, T., & Samuelsson, M. (2014). Bystanders to bullying: Fourth- to seventh-grade students’ perspectives on their reactions. Research Papers in Education, 29(5), 557–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1998). The will to knowledge: The history of sexuality volume 1. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frånberg, G.-M., & Wrethander, M. (2011). Mobbning – en social konstruktion? Lund: Studentlitteratur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillander Gådin, K., & Stein, N. (2017). Do schools normalize sexual harassment? An analysis of a legal case regarding sexual harassment in a Swedish high school. Gender and Education.https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2017.1396292.

  • Gini, G., & Pozzoli, T. (2006). The role of masculinity in children’s bullying. Sex Roles, 54 585–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1986). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. New York: Touchstone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinemann, P. (1972). Mobbning: Gruppvåld bland barn och vuxna. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller, K. (1996). Power, subjectification and resistance in Foucault. Substance, 79, 79–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horton, P. (2011). School bullying and social and moral orders. Children & Society, 25, 268–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton, P. (2012). Bullied into it: Bullying, Power and the Conduct of Conduct. Stroud: E&E Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kulturdepartementet. (2008). Diskrimineringslag (2008:567). Stockholm: Kulturdepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lagerspetz, K., Björkqvist, K., & Peltonen, T. (1988). Is indirect aggression typical of females? Gender differences in aggressiveness in 11- to 12-year-old children. Aggressive Behavior, 14(6), 403–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson Franzén, T. (2018, February 19). Elev kränkt – brister ska åtgärdas. Mariestads Tidningen. https://mariestadstidningen.se/mariestad/2018/02/19/elev-krankt-brister-ska-atgardas. Accessed 23 Feb 2018.

  • McCall, L. (2005). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1771–1800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, E. J. (2008a). A feminist reframing of bullying and harassment: Transforming schools through critical pedagogy. McGill Journal of Education, 43(1), 33–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, E. J. (2008b). Gendered harassment in secondary schools: Understanding teachers’ (non) interventions. Gender and Education, 20(6), 555–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olweus, D. (1973). Hackkycklingar och översittare: Forskning om skolmobbning. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olweus, D. (1978). Aggression in the schools – Bullies and the whipping boys. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. (2000). I’m in and you’re out …’ Explanations for teenage girls’ indirect aggression. Psychology, Evolution & Gender, 2(1), 19–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pascoe, C. J. (2013). Notes on a sociology of bullying: Young men’s homophobia as gender socialization. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, Inaugural Issue, 87–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, K. (2008). Children and bullying: How parents and educators can reduce bullying at school. Malden: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ringrose, J. (2008). ‘Just be friends’: Exposing the limits of educational bully discourses for understanding teen girls’ heterosexualized friendships and conflicts. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29(5), 509–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringrose, J., & Renold, E. (2010). Normative cruelties and gender deviants: The performative effects of bully discourses for girls and boys in school. British Educational Research Journal, 36(4), 573–596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salmivalli, C., Lagerspetz, K., Björkqvist, K., Österman, K., & Kaukiainen, A. (1996). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, R. (2002). Odd girl out: The hidden culture of aggression in girls. New York: Harcourt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skolöverstyrelsen. (1980). Läroplan för grundskolan: Lgr 80. Stockholm: Liber Utbildningsförlaget.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skolverket. (2012). Skolverkets allmänna råd: arbetet mot diskriminering och kränkande behandling. Stockholm: Skolverket.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skolverket. (2016). Läroplan för grundskolan, föreskoleklassen och fritidshemmet 2011. Reviderad 2016. Stockholm: Skolverket.

    Google Scholar 

  • Søndergaard, D. M. (2012). Bullying and social exclusion anxiety in schools. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(3), 355–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stahre, P. (2018, February 11). Stockholm kritiseras för otillräckligt arbete mot skolkränkningar. Stockholms Radio. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=103&artikel=6883816. Accessed 23 Feb 2018.

  • Statens Offentliga Utredningar. (2016). Bättre skydd mot diskriminering: Betänkande av Utredningen om bättre möjlighter att motverka diskriminering. Stockholm: Elanders Sverige AB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, N. (2003). Bullying or sexual harassment? The missing discourse of rights in an era of zero tolerance. Arizona Law Review, 45, 783–799.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swearer Napolitano, S. (2008). Relational aggression: Not just a female issue. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 611–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornberg, R. (2015). School bullying as a collective action: Stigma processes and identity struggling. Children & Society, 29, 310–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornberg, R. (2018). School bullying and fitting into the peer landscape: A grounded theory field study. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39(1), 144–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, M., Galen, B., & Paquette, J. (2001). Top ten challenges for understanding gender and aggression in children: Why can’t we all just get along? Social Development, 10(2), 248–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Utbildningsdepartementet. (1994). Läroplan för det obligatoriska skolväsendet Lpo 94. Stockholm: Utbildningsdepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Utbildningsdepartementet. (2006). Lag (2006:67) om förbud mot diskriminering och annan kränkande behandling av barn och elever. Stockholm: Utbildningsdepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Utbildningsdepartementet. (2010). Skollag (2010:800). Stockholm: Utbildningsdepartementet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G. (2011). Spinning our wheels: Reconceptualising bullying beyond behaviour-focused approaches. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(1), 131–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G. (2015). Bullying and the philosophy of shooting freaks. Confero: Essays on Education, Philosophy and Politics, 3(2), 17–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, S. (2002). Men and masculinities. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, S. (2013). Sexual bullying in one local authority. In I. Rivers & N. Duncan (Eds.), Bullying: Experiences and discourses of sexuality and gender (pp. 60–74). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrethander, M. (2015). Relationsarbete på fritidshem och i skola. In A. Pihlgren (Ed.), Fritidshemmet och skolan – det gemensamma uppdraget (pp. 199–214). Lund: Studentlitteratur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrethander Bliding, M. (2007). Inneslutning och uteslutning – barns relationsarbete i skolan. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, R., & Sweeting, H. (2004). Adolescent bullying, relationships, psychological well-being, and gender-atypical behavior: A gender diagnosticity approach. Sex Roles, 50(7/8), 525–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Paul Horton & Camilla Forsberg

Authors
  1. Paul Horton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Camilla Forsberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Horton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Education, Department of Education, Communication and Learning, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Johannes Lunneblad

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Horton, P., Forsberg, C. (2019). Juridification and the Ungendering of School Bullying. In: Lunneblad, J. (eds) Policing Schools: School Violence and the Juridification of Youth. Young People and Learning Processes in School and Everyday Life, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18605-0_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18605-0_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-18604-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-18605-0

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation