Bullying and Homophobia: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches

Abstract:This study aimed at verifying how the phenomena bullying and homophobia approach, comparing homophobia bullying among actors (author, target, target / authors and witnesses) and observing the homophobic content is used in verbal bullying. A descriptive and quantitative study with survey method was performed. 808 young people participated with an average age of 14.9 years (SD = 1.98), coming from nine state schools in Aracaju-SE. They answered a questionnaire containing demographic questions, about bullying, homophobia and a scale manifest and subtle. The results indicated that 32% were defined targets of bullying, 12% authors, 22% target / authors and only 34% of controls. The presence of homophobic content in verbal bullying was the second most frequent form among male participants (20%) and lower incidence among girls (2%). In addition, bullies adolescents had higher scores on the scale of homophobia, compared to targets (p <0.05).