**4. Mediation**

that is, it suffers them several times a month. In total, 9.1% acts of bullying are repeated on a weekly basis. They behave repeatedly offensive, not respectful and/or violent between 11-13 years (22.5%) and 14–17 years (17.9%); females (20.9%) and males (18.8%). Among school students, high-school students are in the lead (19.4%); followed by the students of the professional institutes (18.1%) and those of the technical institutes (16%). The most common consist of bullying offenses with ugly nicknames, swearing or insults (12.1%), derision for their physical appearance and/or how to talk (6.3%), defamation (5.1%), exclusion for their own opinions (4.7%), aggression with pusher, kick, kick and punch (3.8%). A 16.9% of 11–17-year-olds have been victims of direct bullying, characterized by some relationship between the victim and the bully and 10.8% of indirect actions without physical contact. Among the girls, the difference between "direct" and "indirect" (16.7 and 14%, respectively) is minimal. In contrast, direct male forms (17%) are more than double the indirect (7.7%). Olweus [44] found that males acted more physical and direct aggressive bullying, while females were more exposed to behaviors of indirect bullying. In this way, he has traced the precise profiles of the subjects involved in this phenomenon and their roles within this

The empathy, ability to share and understand emotional states of others, is defined as the process through which an individual understands the emotions of others by generating an isomorphic affective state and knowing that the cause of one's emotional state belong to the

Empathic process does not mean to become like the other (i.e., think like him) but to be with the other, trying to fully understand the subjective experience of another person, from his point of view without assuming it as his own. Entering into resonance with the emotional state of another individual undoubtedly leads to a strong bond for sharing experiences and thoughts. Being able to understand the mind and emotional states of our conspecifics is fundamental to life, contributes to the success of social relationships because it allows us to communicate, understand and predict the behaviors and reactions of others. This ability to resonance within others' feelings allows a better understanding and the ability to promote

Edith Stein, a student of Husserl, addressed the theme of empathy in a phenomenological point of view, trying to outline the characteristics of the human subject from his inter-subjec-

According to researchers [45, 46], it is important to distinguish empathy from the theory of mind, sympathy or compassion and emotional contagion: (1) emotional contagion: the precursor of empathy cannot be considered as an empathic response as it does not involve emotions, but merely physiological responses to the emotional state expressed by another

social problem.

102 Socialization - A Multidimensional Perspective

**3. Empathy**

other person [45–49].

prosocial behaviors [50].

tivity and relationship with other people [51].

Dovigo [61] defines the school as a place where conflict can emerge very easily in which many social and dynamic relational actors are involved. At the same time, the issues involved in school context can be multiple and cover different aspects, such as organizing activities and schedules, teaching design, behavior rules, homework, and so on. In this complex social system, students undergo the pressures of the most skilled and experienced actors in social interaction, and this leads them to experience the feeling of inadequacy, especially for those who are less capable of communicating, who manifest this discomfort using inadequate behaviors (i.e., marked aggression or liability and self-closure). This aspect is combined with a widespread approach in many school contexts that considers the student exclusively as a subject that has only needs and not even ideas, emotions, proposals and therefore tends to evaluate him pliability to instructions and directions of scholar system rather than its ability to find autonomous solutions to problems. In fact, when a conflict arises, the disciplinary tool that is often applied is that of sanction in order to bring order back to class without giving students the ability to create shared and discussed rules and dynamics. Instead, the mediation approach seeks instead to draw attention to the contribution that everyone, starting with students, can create a positive and satisfying atmosphere of cooperation for promoting general health [62]. Mediation is a concrete instrument to manage conflict and to avoid escalation. Through mediation litigants can meet themselves in front of a third person, impartial about the conflict [56]. Mediator must not judge them, interpret what they tell and give them advices: he has to welcome them, make them feel heard and lead them toward a solution. Its goal is to restore their communication and he should suggest them what to do: only litigants will be able to find the best solution possible [56]. Therefore, mediation is the best practice to face the conflict because it cares about relationship and prevents escalation to ruin it. In fact, mediation is increasingly complicated as escalation progresses. In conclusion, in mediation path, students can learn that there are many forms to react to the conflict, including violence that is certainly the least effective. Identifying the causes of the conflict, discussing them and practicing nonviolent dispute resolution methods helps students become aware of the positive aspects of the conflict, and above all of the power they have in making important and new choices.

**5. The relationship between empathy and bullying**

and over time [33–37].

behavior.

**Bullo" project**

based on two important theoretical backgrounds:

es useful to cope the conflict.

Empathy is the ability to understand and experience how another person feels [24–27, 45, 46] and bullying as a subtype of aggressive behavior in which an individual or group of individuals intentionally attacks, humiliates, and/or excludes a relatively powerless person repeatedly

I Teach You to Quarrel - Empathy and Mediation: Tools for Preventing Bullying

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76882

105

During the last 30 years, it has been well established that elevated levels of empathy are associated with prosocial behavior [53]. The association between empathy and antisocial behavior has been the focus of numerous studies: empathy's affective component was measured in several ways, including story presentation, facial and gesture reactions, questionnaires. Eisenberg [59] reviewed these studies and found affective empathy was negatively associated with antisocial behavior, especially when it was detected by questionnaires. In a more recent study, Joliffe and Farrington [60] studied links between empathy, in both her affective and cognitive components and offending: they found a negative association between empathy and offending that was stronger for cognitive component. Moreover, 3 years later, this negative association between empathy and offending was confirmed, though it was stronger in studying children and adolescent, and not so obvious in studying younger children. The first study that assesses a direct link between empathy and bullying was by Endresen and Olweus (2001) who found a negative association. After that, a number of bullying intervention programs have incorporated empathy as an essential element to reduce bullying [60]. For these reasons, we have deepened the concept of bullying considering that of mediation and that of empathy strictly associated with the prosocial

**6. An Italian example of preventing bullying: the "Mediamente** 

The "Mediamente Bullo" ("average bully") is a pilot project for preventing bullying. It is

**1.** Morgagni's theoretical approach [64] that highlights and distinguishes the exogenous (socio-economic and cultural context) factors from endogenous (internal conditions). First, the social and cultural contexts play a very important role in establishing norms of behavior and also of social cooperation because people who break the social norms of the group may be subjected to punishment or normative sanction by other ingroup members [65–67]. It has been shown by recent studies that it is transcultural behavior [65–67]. Second, the internal condition represents a very important aspect because it considers psychological characteristic, such as personality, empathy, ability of problem solving and so on, resourc-

Bertoluzzo and Bouquiè [62] described in depth the concept of conflict the various ways in which one can handle it. They pointed out that the term conflict is always associated with that of resolution because the first aim is to resolve it, but they put the emphasis not on the usefulness and effectiveness of the resolution that if forced can lead to other problems but to change the prospective and to focus on the emotional aspects such as fears and suffering of the person involved in the conflict. Considering aspects such as individual sensitivity, interpersonal relationship, story, fragility can be useful for effective conflict management. One of the typical features of the conflict is the predisposition to grow. In fact, from the moment it begins, it naturally tends to convolve all energies and resources in a vortex characterized by increasing intensity, this tendency is called *escalation* [63]. It represents the process by which conflicts grow through various stages in severity over time, driven by incompatible point of views and goals; it can lead to destructive social and interpersonal dynamics. To describe this escalation mechanism, Path Pathfoort [63] used the so-called MN model. According to it, in the relationship, one of the two persons assumes superior position (M = higher) while the other that of inferiority (m = minor). This can be humiliated and offended and can accumulate a lot of tension that will push him/her to assume a superior position over the other. This mechanism creates a situation that tends to increase the level of aggression until it reaches a point of rupture and often to violent behaviors [62]. Often escalation has already reached such a level as to make it difficult, if not impossible, to restore the peaceful situation from which it is started. All conflicting dynamics, especially those affecting bullying, are fuelled by the inability of the main actors (victims, bullies, and observers) to recognize themselves inside or outside these dynamics.

In particular, in bullying events, mediation can represent an efficacy practice to face the conflict because it cares about relationship and prevents escalation to aggressive behaviors. In conclusion, mediation can represent a tool for preventing bullying.
