Bullying as a Destructive Communal Coping of the School Community: A New Conceptualization

School bullying has long been the subject of numerous empirical studies and applied interventions, due to its high prevalence and serious negative consequences. However, the theoretical understanding of this phenomenon, its predictors and dynamics, is not so rich. The paper examines the most established and influential theories developed by domestic and foreign scientists explaining the causes and dynamics of school bullying. The views on bullying as a result of social learning and a consequence of cognitive representations, a way to increase status and achieve popularity, a group process, the result of synergy of factors within the various social systems, as well as a form of adaptation are discussed. These theories are used to varying degrees to develop anti-bullying interventions, such as prevention programs, technologies to stop bullying, and educational activities. Based on the works on the effectiveness of various interventions, the paper problematizes the issues of the reasons for joining school bullying of children and adults, as well as the rapid return to bullying in schools after the end of anti-bullying activities. The author's concept of bullying is proposed as a communal coping strategy of the school community, where the rejection and displacement of one or more children who find themselves in the role of a victim to the periphery of a group of participants in the educational process, performs the functions of coping with stress and helps to reduce emotional stress to all other members of the community. It seems that this view of school bullying provides answers to the questions raised about the spread and stability of bullying and can be used as a basis for the development of programs addressed to the school community.