Last week, a 14-year-old girl in a small country in Xinzhuang was surrounded by a number of people and took turns to come forward to watch the slap, during which verbal abuse and intimidation occurred, onlookers from time to time out "she cried yes", "right hook fist", "fight a little more" and so on. The bullying video lasts two minutes, but the scene doesn't know how long it will last. Why is it always easy for campuses to quickly become the scene of bullying? Psychologically, it usually comes from an anxious group effect -- if everyone does it, but I do it, as if there's nothing wrong with it.

Last Friday (8/30) the complaint commune powder special published a section of a small campus in Xinzhuang bullying film. In the film, more than a dozen people around a girl, first ordered her in the classroom atrium penalty station, and then many people took turns to grab the girl's head, continuous slap, and constantverbal verbal intimidation. Onlookers also occasionally heard "she cried yes", "right hook fist", "fight a little bit" and other help and ridicule.

According to the Associated Press , the girl was 14 years old . She first went to KTV with the remaining 12 people to sing, during which time she was taken to a small campus in a country to carry out bullying after the girl threw a lighter in the box, causing dissatisfaction.

Reminder: The following film paintings may cause discomfort, please watch it as appropriate


Film Source: Complaint Commune Powder

The film lasts nearly two minutes, and the scene doesn't know how long it will last, the longest time for the victim. Seeing this news, for the parties, people who have had similar experiences, or knowing that you have friends around you who have been bullied, are once again evoked some kind of uncomfortable memory. We also go a step further and ask why bullying is not an occasional occurrence of special events? And from a psychological point of view, why do campuses often become places where collective bullying takes place?

"The Black Sheep Effect": The Story of a Group of People Bullying a Good Man

We can start with the psychological term "black sheep effect". It refers to the bizarre situation in which a group of people bully a good person and have other bystanders sitting on their hands.

In the group life we've experienced growing up, there's more or less experience - you feel like there's someone in the class that everyone probably doesn't like, and while he doesn't really do anything awful, seeing this exclusion into more and more people's help, bullying is getting worse. In the end it was as if the victim was really a man of all evils.

In the "black sheep effect" theory is divided into three kinds of people. The first is the "black sheep", that is, the victims themselves. Most of the time, he doesn't know what he's done wrong, and he's often stuck in a helpless situation that's not escaped. The second is the "butcher", that is, a group of perpetrators and attacks on black sheep. They usually don't know what happened, but because they found that it was acceptable to do it, they joined in. The third is the "white sheep", that is, the bystander. They witnessed the events but were unwilling or unable to take any action.

With the black sheep effect into the campus bullying incident, there are several psychological state that can be paid special attention to. First of all, the most likely inner heart of "Black Sheep" is that he "doesn't understand what you're doing wrong" but can't change the situation, and then wants to ask the "butchers" for reasons or to show goodwill. However, they are often unanswered, and such "showing" increases the sense of guilt in the butcher's heart.

The butcher, because of the guilty mark," preferred to label the black sheep to prove that the black sheep really did something wrong. In addition, they will begin to call out their peers and persuade them to agree with their views and actions in order to cover up the condemnation of conscience. Finally, more and more people join the butcher's group, which has evolved into our common bullying scene. (Recommended reading: Bullying scene: every silent child with a cold adult behind him)

In our growing experience, we may have experienced these roles. So, how can we face the campus bullying scene? Have you ever felt overwhelmed, unknowingly, and what might come from?


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"In a group, I'm afraid of being different" How does campus bullying come about?

The cause of the black sheep effect lies in the fact that the anxious masses are competing to be "good people" and the events are small, so the "perpetrators" have no advantages, but worse; This will cause the "perpetrator" psychological imbalance,......, first just a person's psychological imbalance, and then also drag others into the water, but also let others into the same psychological trap, others in order to help themselves, will pull more people into the water. Chain reaction, that is, all the people pass into the same psychological trap, can not climb out. Chen Junqin,"Black Sheep Effect: Psychologisttakes You Out of The Ubiquitous Bullying Phenomenon"

As we can see, the Black Sheep effect refers to a group of extremely anxious people, and when everyone wants to shape their own good image and everyone develops a sense of "crisis", we tend to fall into a collective consciousness and act out of the crowd - if everyone does it, and I do it, there's nothing wrong with it.

Back to our campus site. In Taiwan's educational environment, children's group cooperation and consistency are generally encouraged. From the point of view of the school system, including uniform regulations starting from primary education, the system of promotion with achievement as a guide to success, etc., to standardize or formulate the principle of individual success or failure.

However, when we are indoctrinated with many standards, then there will be so-called children outside this line. It is easy to observe that those on campus who are too-standard, gender-neutral, too fat, or have any special signs of physical appearance are vulnerable to special attention or even bullying. For example, in April this year, women fans launched a "one word to say you've been made a body joke" campaign on Facebook, and collected more than a thousand messages from netizens. Among them is to point out that they are too big breasts, looks, gender temperament or body shape, etc. have been attacked for many. (Extended Reading: Teachers also bully students?) yes, and it's worse than you think.

Thus, in a group, we suffer from "concern" for fear of being ostracized and for fear of being different. For this reason, we may not be aware of joining the "butcher" group, feeling the sharing of interests, and soothe ourselves. From a small group of people to a large group of people, each other to grow each other, relying on the operation of anxiety. In addition, the "white sheep" watching, also for fear of becoming the next victim, and choose to be silent, afraid to inform. In this regard, a campus bullying incident, suddenly generated.


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"There is no reason, only human nature" how to prevent bullying from happening all the time?

However, we can continue to see that one of the things the Black Sheep effect wants to suggest is that the black sheep itself usually did nothing wrong. Every bullying takes place, and ends with the departure or disappearance of the black sheep. But when you look back and blame the reasons, no one can say it.

In the case of this new zhuang girl bullying case, if according to the reports, the incident because of the KTV box "drop lighter" behavior, this is not out of proportion to the follow-up girls to bear lynching slap slap. In response to the occurrence of the black sheep effect, it often has no traceable justification, but there is a clear human development.

But the damage has been done.

From this news, we see again the occurrence of campus bullying. After understanding the explanation of the psychological level, we also discuss how to find a solution:

If you've ever been to a bullying scene, or you're concerned about bullying, you're emotional and traumatised, but you can't find a solution. Here, we specifically want to tell you that bullying may stem from the group psychology, the educational system, which is often a complex collection. Knowing that the wound may not be over, knowing that anxiety is still there, we can begin with understanding these external circumstances and open up the possibility of reconciliation with memories and inner uneasiness. (Editor's recommendation: Let us grow not by the process of being bullied, but by our own firmness)

Ministry of Education Anti-Bullying Complaint Line 0800-200-885