ABSTRACT
Bullying is a complex incident where a power imbalance is created on the basis of varying aspects between the parties involved. As power is contextual and situational, there are still many unknowns about bullying despite the familiarity of the concept. Chapter 3 reviews the current understanding of religious bullying and offers a definition of it, and how it includes those who are religious and non-religious. It presents contemporary data on the state of bullying in the United States and Canada and explains why it is of concern in the short and long terms, as the effects of bullying can be inter- and intragenerational, and potentially lead one towards violent extremism. In conjunction, details about religious bullying, albeit scant, are shared from reports from US-based Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim non-profit organizations, as well as one Canada-based Sikh organization. This review promotes the need to focus on the various forms of bias within each incident, as it can include race/ethnicity, gender, and religion, among others, which can be context-specific. The chapter concludes by considering the current responses to bullying at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro levels of society first.
