Course | Bullies: Their Making and Unmaking

Price

Original price: CA$100

Description

Despite civilization's advances, the human mean streak is not going away. Dr. Neufeld dissects the bully syndrome to expose its deep instinctive roots in attachment and emotion, revealing in the process why this behaviour is so immune to conventional means of intervention. The key to the bully's unmaking is to first understand how bullies are made.

As is the case with all Neufeld Institute's courses, this course features lectures by Dr. Neufeld, carefully curated support for enriched study, study aides, the opportunity to ask questions of trained faculty or course facilitators, a year's access to the campus to enable study at one's own pace, and a certificate of attendance upon completion. For more information, consult the "about our courses" on Neufeld Institute's page.

Sessions: 4
Lecture: 4h 12m
Certificate: 8+ hours

Course Summary

The primary objective of this course is to make sense of the bully from inside out, and from this foundation of insight, prepare the way for change. Our well-meaning attempts to stem the tide of bullying have not worked because they fail to address the deep instinctive roots embedded in the dynamics of attachment and the flight from vulnerability. In this course, Dr. Neufeld shares the insights that have evolved as a result of years of experience working with bullies of all kinds. This course reveals the birthplace of the bully dynamic to be stuck alpha instincts, where emotional defendedness has eroded caring instincts and feelings. The good news is that both these dynamics are reversible. The challenging part is how best to do this. Strategies are presented that are grounded in understanding and that can be applied in a wide range of settings. Suggestions are also given that can help children live in a world where bullying is increasingly epidemic. Making sense of the bully dynamic has been one of Neufeld's most significant contributions to social science. His refreshing analysis provides hope in a world where the bully dynamic is becoming so normal and so normalized that it eclipses the underlying tragedy of what we are capable of as humans when our instincts go awry.

Suitability/Applicability

Bullies come in all ages and exist in all settings, including marriage and the marketplace. The dynamics discussed, therefore, apply to all. This course should therefore be of use to anyone interested in taking a more in-depth approach to bullying. The primary focus of this course, however, is bullies in the school setting. This course can be used to glean insight into particular bullies, create plans for treatment or intervention, or to create prevention and intervention programs for schools and districts.

Sample Topics

• A working definition of bullying that is both intuitive and revealing
• A two-factor model for tracing the bully problem to its roots
• The problem with prevailing beliefs about where bullying comes from
• Why bullies are driven to dominate and triggered by perceived vulnerability
• The reasons why consequences and confrontations do not work
• The role of peer orientation in fueling the bully dynamic
• General guidelines for interventions that can be employed in a variety of venues and settings
• The 12 traits of the bully syndrome
• Why the bullied are more likely to become bullies
• How schools have inadvertently become bully factories
• Key target points for effective intervention

Course Outline

The course is divided into four learning modules, each containing approximately one hour of instructional video by Dr. Neufeld.

• Session 1 — Neufeld's Alpha Perversion Model of Bullying
This session begins with reviewing the four prevailing explanations for bullying before looking at the bully response through the lenses of attachment, emotion, and development. What is revealed is a two-factor model that involves basic attachment instincts as well as core attachment emotions. These interacting factors are revealed to be rooted in certain conditions that impact development. The good news is that once the dynamics that drive bullying are understood, steps can be taken to reverse these dynamics. ​

• Session 2 — Phenomena Explained by the Perversion Model
A model is evaluated upon its power to explain behaviour and phenomena that cannot otherwise be made sense of. Included in this session is the relationship between the bully syndrome an other alpha syndromes, why bullies have the emotional problems they do, the relationship between peer orientation and bullying, how the bullied can become bullies, and the twelve traits associated with the bully syndrome.

• Sessions 3 & 4 — Changing the Bully's Heart and Mind
Given that bullies are made, they can also be unmade. For this to happen, however, the interventions need to touch the bully's heart and mind, especially if they are to generalize across relationships and last into adulthood. Practices are introduced that build on the developmental insights gleaned in the first sessions. The implications for prevention are also discussed.​