UMM Psychology Lecturer Examines the Phenomenon of Bullying

Author : Humas | Saturday, September 11, 2021 10:00 WIB

It was Didi who explained about bullying. (Photo: Istimewah)

Bullying, or what is often called bullying, usually occurs in the community. Not only at the school level, but bullying also often occurs in the work environment. The most recent case of bullying occurred at the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) office. This was revealed through the victim's Twitter with the initials MSA some time ago.

When asked about this, a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), Diana Savitri Hidayati, S.Psi., M.Psi., said that bullying causes often occur in the school environment and the work environment. There are three parties involved in the process, namely the perpetrator, the victim, and the audience. "There are many factors that can cause bullying, but what is certain is that it can happen because of conditions that allow it," said the lecturer who was born in Surabaya.

Furthermore, Didi, as she is familiarly called, dissects several reasons why a person becomes a perpetrator or a victim of bullying. From the perpetrator's point of view, she usually feels dominant and has the right to intimidate other parties who appear weak or will not fight back. Parenting patterns and the wrong environment can also cause a person to have this trait. In bullying at the KPI office, the ages of the parties involved are middle adults. This shows that perpetrators from a young age are used to bullying, which continues in the work environment.

"From the victim's point of view, usually the victim has a weak personality. This can be in the form of a negative self-concept, such as always feeling wrong or being used to being defeated. This can be formed from the wrong upbringing from the family and criticism that is not constructive," she continued.

Didi explained, bullying will hurt the mental health of the victim. The worst impact that can befall the victim is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to suicidal ideation. Didi said two things might happen when someone is being bullied. First, the victim will respond positively to the bullying, namely by daring to resist physically and legally. While the second is that the victim may react negatively to the bullying so that they do not dare to fight back.

"I see in the case of KPI, MSA can respond positively to the bullying because it can fight the perpetrators through various means. It took great courage to reveal the incident on social media. But MSA suffers from PTSD because bullying has been going on for years. Plus, the various ways she did to fight back failed," said Didi.

Didi said which could use several ways to anticipate and overcome bullying. Seek social support in the event of unpleasant actions at school or work. Be selective in making friends because the friendly environment will affect a person's behavior and mindset. They can distinguish the realm of work and friendship to find out early if they are being bullied.

"Bullying usually occurs gradually, starting from mild things such as being told to buy food to the stage of violence and sexual harassment. The victim at first did not realize that he was being bullied. This is because the seniority system is still in effect in Indonesia, so victims feel normal when treated as juniors and ordered around. Therefore, social support and differentiating the realm of work and friendship are important points to find out early when minor bullying occurs," she said. (apg/syi/wil)

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