Bully
Overview
Bully (不良輩) is a general term for a person who inflicts physical or mental harm on others through violence, threats, extortion, intimidation, and similar acts in public places, or who habitually violates social norms and creates unease around them. Unlike simple pranks or temporary deviance, it is defined as a social problem in that it involves repetition, group behavior, and the use of a power advantage over the other party. Today, it is being discussed as a concept expanded to include not only offline physical violence but also group bullying in online spaces.
Main Content
Definition and Etymology
'불량(不良)' means 'not good,' that is, conduct or condition that is not proper, and '배(輩)' is a suffix used to refer to people disparagingly. Therefore, bully means 'a group of people of bad conduct.' In Korean, similar expressions such as '건달' (geondal), '깡패' (kkangpae), '양아치' (yangachi), and '날라리' (nallari) have been used alongside it over time, and each expression has subtly different nuances depending on violence, organization, and economic exploitation.
Types and Characteristics
- Violent type: The most typical form, using physical assault, extortion of money and valuables, and threats as its main means.
- Intimidation/verbal violence type: A type that dominates the other person through cursing, threats, and harassment rather than direct harm.
- Group ostracism type: A method of intentionally excluding and isolating a specific target, which is harder to detect than physical violence.
- Cyberbully type: A type that uses anonymity in online spaces such as social media, messengers, and game chats to insult, spread rumors, distribute photos, and so on.
Commonly, these often accompany group dynamics such as forming a hierarchy within a peer group, showing off belonging, and maintaining internal discipline.
Causes
Bully behavior is explained by the interaction of multiple factors rather than a single cause. Domestic neglect, abuse, unstable parenting environment, peer pressure and group norms, community disorder and lack of supervision, economic deprivation and inequality of opportunity, and violent narratives repeatedly exposed in media act in combination. Some studies point to lack of empathy and difficulty in impulse control as individual factors.
Social Impact
Direct victims of bully behavior suffer long-term mental aftereffects such as anxiety, depression, social avoidance, and dropping out of school, in addition to physical injury. Furthermore, it undermines the sense of safety in the community, weakens the foundation of trust in schools and workplaces, and can create a vicious cycle in which victims turn into another perpetrator. The silence of bystanders is cited as a major factor that expands and reproduces the problem.
Representation in Media
In popular culture, bullies have been portrayed either as symbols of rebellion and growth or as the face of cold social violence. Films such as 《Friend》 and 《A Dirty Carnival》 have depicted the world of organized violence, and school series in dramas and films have portrayed the structure of school violence. There are also many cases, such as the Japanese manga 《Crows》, that romanticize bullies into a narrative of loyalty and friendship, so the influence of popular media's mode of representation on youth perception is a constant target of criticism.
Legal and Institutional Responses
In Korea, the Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures against School Violence, the Act on the Punishment of Violent Acts, etc., the Juvenile Act, and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. regulate related acts. In cases of school violence, guidance/educational dispositions through the autonomous committee and criminal punishment may be carried out in parallel, and cyber insults and defamation entail separate criminal liability. Recently, to supplement the limits of punishment-centered responses, restorative justice programs that mediate dialogue between offenders and victims are spreading.
Recent Trends
Discussions in 2024–2025 can be summarized into three main strands. First, cyberbullying combined with digital sex crimes. As deepfake composites, group insults in group chat rooms, and online doxxing emerge as new forms of harassment, platforms' obligations to promptly delete and block content and the introduction of AI-based detection and monitoring technologies are expanding. Second, the debate over revising the Juvenile Act and strengthening punishment. Social pros and cons continue over lowering the age of juvenile offenders not subject to criminal punishment (chokbeop sonyeon) and reflecting school violence records in college admissions, and the balance between the two goals of protecting victims and reforming offenders has become a key issue. Third, a shift toward prevention. School-level peer mediation programs, bystander intervention education, emotional regulation and empathy training, and awareness improvement education for parents are being incorporated into the institutional sphere. Along with this, an integrated response system in which local communities, police, and schools share information is being piloted.
Related Topics
- [[School violence]]
- [[Cyberbullying]]
- [[Juvenile Act]]
- [[Group ostracism]]
- [[Restorative justice]]