In this examination of the ubiquitous practice of bullying among youth, compelling first person stories vividly convey the lived experience of peer torment and how it impacted the lives of five diverse young women. Author Keith Berry’s own autoethnographic narratives and analysis add important relational communication, methodological, and ethical dimensions to their accounts. The personal stories create an opening to understand how this form of physical and verbal violence shapes identities, relationships, communication, and the construction of meaning among a variety of youth. The layered narrative
- describes the practices constituting bullying and how youth work to cope with peer torment and its aftermath, largely focusing on identity construction and well being;
- addresses contemporary cyberbullying as well as other forms of relational aggression in many social contexts across race, gender, and sexual orientations;
- is written in a compelling way to be accessible to students in communication, education, psychology, social welfare, and other fields.
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter One: Bullying: A Narrative Opening to a Relational Problem
Chapter Two: Cutting Through: The Journey and Horror of Finding Self-Love
Reflexive Interlude One: The Little Professor
Chapter Three: Pure Evil Entertainment
Reflexive Interlude Two: Rope Burn
Chapter Four: Flying Tomatoes: Cruella’s Clash with the Dalmatians
Reflexive Interlude Three: Stretch
Chapter Five: Highlight Girl: Finding Strength in her Weak Soul
Reflexive Interlude Four: Of Frogs and Friends
Chapter Six: A Narrative of Bullying and Rape
Reflexive Interlude Five: Bennies on the Floor
Chapter Seven: Opened—Bullying Communication and Identities, and the Power of Stories
Appendix
References
About the Author :
Keith Berry is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida and past Chair of the National Communication Association’s (NCA’s) Ethnography Division. He currently serves as Co-Chair of NCA’s Anti-Bullying Task Force.
Review :
"The moral center of Keith Berry’s Bullied is located in his deep reflexive and empathetic capacities. This book is a must read for anyone who has ever been touch by bullying and for anyone who believes puzzling through a troubling social issue with intelligence, sensitivity, and compassion moves us closer to our better selves." – Ronald Pelias, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University
"With Bullied, Keith Berry continues to establish himself as an expert of youth, identity, and interpersonal communication; an advocate for personal narrative, reflexivity, and social justice; and a practitioner committed to making life better, especially for those living with tormented pasts." –Tony E. Adams, Associate Professor and Chair of Department of Communication, Media, and Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University
"This book moves beyond simple definitions and statistics, showing through rich narrative what youth bullying looks like and feels like in living color. The result is a poignant contribution that exposes the heartbreak that accompanies maltreatment, reveals the resiliency of the human spirit, and provides insight on autoethnographic methodological practice."—Sarah J. Tracy, Professor at the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University
