Experiences and perceptions of discrimination related to bullying among Brazilian students

This is the first study focusing on discriminatory bullying in Brazil. We first investigated the experiences of bullying and discriminatory bullying among Brazilian adolescent victims of bullying, and, secondly, identified the causes that victims, bullies and bystanders attribute to bullying to verify whether, from the adolescents’ perceptions, bullying is also related to discrimination. Participants were 55 adolescents (46.5% girls) attending 11 public schools in Brazil. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed using Atlas.TI. Thirty-four percent of the participants reported being victims of bullying. The existence of discriminatory bullying was identified and it encompasses several of the victims’ features, whether related to physical appearance, obesity, sexual orientation or place of residence. Four thematic categories (stories of victimization; causes of the victimization; support provided to victims and feelings of helplessness; consequences of victimization) emerged from the participants’ narratives and revealed the complexity of bullying affecting the students’ quality of life. Implications for anti-bullying actions are discussed.