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Home > HCAS > HCAS_PUBS > HCAS_JOURNALS > TQR Home > TQR > Vol. 30 > No. 8 (2025)

 

Abstract

Institutionalized bullying is when bullying moves beyond individual instances of bullying and is culturally embedded in an institution, such as a school or workplace. This type of bullying has not been thoroughly examined in tertiary school settings in Nigeria. This phenomenological qualitative study examined the experiences of tertiary students (from four different institutions in Nigeria) and their experiences of institutionalized bullying to determine if and to what extent this practice is occurring. There were (n=48) tertiary students engaged in open-ended, semi-structured interviews in Nigeria in 2022. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and thematically analyzed. Overall, this study found that institutionalized bullying is perceived to be a rapidly rising practice in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Bullying identified included hazing, physical bullying, cyberbullying, and emotional, sexual, and emotional bullying. Respondents reported feelings of isolation, pressure to leave school, depression, low self-esteem, social disengagement, and adopting bullying tendencies as consequences of bullying. Highlighted personality disorders, upbringing, social networks, peer pressure, institutional culture, and social and popular media influence as causes of institutionalized bullying in tertiary institutions in the Abuja Metropolis, Nigeria.

Keywords

institutionalized bullying, bullying, Nigeria, tertiary schools, phenomenological study

Author Bio(s)

Chika Bosah, Bay Path University, Doctor of Health Sciences, Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA

Casey Mace Firebaugh (Corresponding Author) Bay Path University, Doctor of Health Sciences, Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA. Please direct correspondence to caseyandfiske@gmail.com

Tara Rava Zolnikov National University, Department of Community Health, La Jolla, California, USA

Acknowledgements

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Publication Date

8-31-2025

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2025.6557

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