What do adolescents say about bullying?

Abstract All antisocial acts, including violence and bullying behavior, are such thing within the community where they occur; they are a reflection of that community. This study aims to analyze the spontaneous discourse about bullying at school of 406 adolescents aged between 15 and 21 years. Qualitative analysis of the data permitted to derive four discursive principles: denial of the existence of violence (“it doesn’t happen”), denial of one’s own responsibility (“if it happens, it isn’t me, everybody does it”), denial of seriousness (“if it is a joke, it doesn’t hurt”), and attribution to the victim (bullying behavior happens to the victim for a reason). The analysis of adolescent’s spontaneous discourse contributes to the definition of interpretive context regarding peer violence. This knowledge should be included in the scientific model in order to help developing effective intervention programs.