Bullying no ensino superior: a função social das instituições de Ensino Superior no enfrentamento à intimidação sistemática contra os estudantes em Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil (2024-2025).

Abstract

Systematic bullying (bullying) is a social phenomenon that has occurred in school environments at all levels. Considering art. 6 of Law No. 14,811, of January 12, 2024, which added art. 146-A, in Decree-Law No. 2,848, of December 7, 1940 (Penal Code), the practice of bullying is a crime in Brazil. Higher education institutions have a relevant social role in proposing measures to address this dilemma in their academic contexts, through educational mechanisms that ensure the safety of students in all its aspects. The dissertation deals with an extremely relevant topic that, in an interdisciplinary way, relates public safety, citizenship and human rights with the area of education with the objective of reporting the phenomenon of bullying in the context of higher education and describing how academic institutions, from the perspective of students, can address this dilemma that is of interest to society. The research problem is: What are the reasons that lead to the occurrence of bullying in higher education against students? To this end, the general objective is (i) to investigate how bullying occurs in the academic environment against students. The specific objectives are (a) to describe the importance of researching bullying in the academic context from the students' perspective; (b) to analyze students' perception of bullying; (c) to propose educational measures (final product) that can help in confronting bullying in higher education. The Dissertation was guided by the guiding question: Does systematic bullying occur in higher education? How can higher education institutions, from the student perspective, prevent the practice of bullying in the university space against students? The methodology used is the dialectical method combined with the historical-cultural theory and meta-epistemology of contexts, which allows us to follow a qualitative, quantitative and mixed approach. The type of research will be a case study, having as the locus of the research the Amazon region, city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The instrument used for data collection was the production of 2 (two) online questionnaires via Google Forms, with 16 (sixteen) open and closed questions, in order to collect empirical data in order to materialize the phenomenon in this reality through the final production of the research, which is the dissertation. The technique used for data analysis was descriptive interpretative data analysis and the content analysis technique in specific cases. Regarding the results, we point out the conclusion that bullying needs to be treated in the academic environment as a crime and that higher education institutions should promote educational policies (seminars, lectures, classes, among other activities) that can promote prevention and awareness among students so that they avoid practicing bullying in the academic environment or in any other social space. This investigation is linked to the line of research: Society, State, Culture and Public Security. Thematic area: Prejudice and violence in educational institutions; Psychosocial aspects of violence; Citizen security. Area of Concentration: Public Security, Citizenship and Human Rights at the Amazonas State University (UEA). It is also linked to the research line: Psychosocial Processes of the Postgraduate Program in Psychology at the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) and is integrated with the advisor's macroproject, which explores the subjective dimension of social phenomena. We hope to provoke critical and reflective reflections on the topic and that other research can be developed on the subject by Amazonian researchers in the context of the State of Amazonas, at a Brazilian and international level, considering public policies for the internationalization of scientific research.