Underneath the Mask: Reflecting on personal experiences of school age bullying and its long term effects in adulthood.

Antonia Shevlin

Abstract

A qualitative study reflecting on individuals’ experiences of being bullied in secondary school and its long term effects into adulthood. This report used semi-structured interviews to understand individuals’ experiences of bullying; how they coped and how it has impacted their self-esteem as an adult. Participants reflected on their experiences of being bullied and spoke about their interpretation of their own personal development which was then analysed using thematic analysis (TA), coding the information to identify common themes throughout the interviews. The codes that emerged across the interviews were related to how participants felt at the time of the experience, where they feel they are now and looking to the future of what can be done next. The themes were ‘belonging’ relating to groups and institutions,’under the mask’ relating to how participants felt about, and coped with bullying and ‘whose problem is it?’, looking at the direction for the future.This study found that school age bullying impacts adulthood, leaving negative feelings and residing anxiety in social situations.

 

Shevlin, A. (2018) Underneath the Mask: Reflecting on personal experiences of school age bullying and its long term effects in adulthood.. Transformations, [online] Vol. 3(1). Available at: https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=9587 [Accessed 29 Mar, 2024].

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