3 0 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 4 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 1 8 istence. On the other hand, it also protects us from denial of freedom, which let the human being rise above all of these aspects. In doing so man becomes more than just a free man, he also assumes responsibility. In his responsibility, man has an option to choose for what he understands to be free, and for what or against what he is deciding (Frankl 2007, 71). Logotheory points out to the dynamics of human being who realizes himself both as an individual of his own kind and as a personal subject. The human being becomes a co-creator and author of his own existence and so the self-realization occurs. Bullying behavior is induced by the pressure of group norms resulting in man not knowing what he ought to do and what he really wants. That is why he focuses on what others do (conformism) or he does what others want him to do (totalitarianism). Aggressors’ aim is to achieve a high status within the group (Sijtsema et al. 2009; Bizová and Gubricová 2011); to be accepted and respected by their classmates and to gain popularity among their peers (DeBruyn and Cillessen 2006; Olthof and Goossens 2008). Conformism is based on the adaptation mechanisms of social accommodation (Grác 2009). A conformist complies with the norms and rules of behavior, which exert the greatest pressure upon him; and it is not important whether these norms are imposed on him openly or secretly. Man denies the freedom of choice; he renounces himself as a self-regulatory personality and shifts the responsibility for his own behavior to the external factors, things, and social institutions. A conformist is often affected by the authoritative parenting style and the strict upbringing in a form of some kind of a drill. Such parenting style does not take into consideration the child’s opinions and attitudes. Similar parenting style can be observed in the families of aggressors involved in bullying. They encountered the authoritative parenting style, physical punishment and maltreatment from their parents (Espelage, Bosworth and Simon 2000; Shields and Cicchetti 2001), especially from mothers (Papanikolaou, Chatzikosma and Kleio 2011). It is also linked to the physical absence of fathers showing no interest in upbringing of their children. The research results (Schore 2001b, 208) also show that behavior disorders may result from negative experiences in childhood caused by mental deprivation, inadequate attachment, which disturbs the development of the brain that helps coping with stress stimuli, emotional regulation and maintaining of personal relationships. The results show direct association between attachment, non-effective regulation of the right hemisphere and maladaptive mental health (Schore 2001a). The child’s developing right hemisphere is deeply connected to the limbic nervous system and plays a dominant role in reacting to stress. This means that inadequate attachment hinders progress in development of child’s coping strategies. The hostile and aggressive behavior of bullying aggressors possibly suggests an uncertain-avoiding attachment, which is connected to disorders at increased mental burden as a result of absence of behavioral patterns that would help to cope with traumas, and thus forms a threat to further mental development (Brisch 2011; Hašto 2005). In their behavior, aggressors tend to evade their responsibilities, justify their bad behavior, and suppress the consciousness of responsibility instead of taking responsibility for that behavior. In order to evade the responsibility, they use their victims and classmates to hide behind. They often use expressions such as “but he was provoking me”, “we were just messing around” or “we all were having fun”. They talk about their parents, teachers, their environment, and various circumstances in which they find the “source” for justification of their behavior. 4 Conclusion During his lifespan, man comes to terms with taking full responsibility for his behavior and actions. He knows his rights, but he is not that eager to accept his obligations. One will never cease to hate another human being if subhuman mechanisms and impulses are still used to explain behavior. One will never be able to stop the hatred toward another human being unless he changes his personal attitude towards others. As for aggression, man is free and, at the same time, responsible for his own choice to either identify with or distance himself from that aggression. Our behavior is grounded upon free will, weighing of alternatives, in which peer pressure doesn’t justify. It is important to have the ability to take a distance from one’s self and develop the ability of self-transcendence, which focuses our view from ourselves to another, to perceive and understand of someone else’s situation. So, we open ourselves to the possibility to be there for others and be respectful to ourselves and to others. Acknowledgement The paper was created with the support of Vega grant no. 1/0305/18.
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