Abstract

Dennis Lines shares his deep understanding and illustrates from long practical experience in the field of counselling, bullying and aggression.'

- Educational Review Canterbury Christ Church University, UK Carl Parsons

Is there a particular type of person who becomes a bully? Why do bullies behave like they do? How can we interpret and understand bullying within relationships?

The Bullies attempts to get inside the minds of the bully and victim - the child, the adolescent and the adult - across a wide range of 'closed' situations including the home, school and workplace, prisons and the armed services. By listening to the voices of bullies and victims from all kinds of backgrounds without making judgements, counsellor Dennis Lines provides unique insights into bullying and what makes such domineering and aggressive behaviour so complex. He discusses controversial issues such as genetic predisposition towards abusive behaviour and draws on his counselling knowledge to provide insights on how to understand and treat bullies to change their behaviour.

The Bullies offers a unique and illustrated perspective on a widespread phenomenon, and will be essential reading for psychologists, sociologists, counsellors, teachers, social workers, probation officers, students and researchers.

What made this book such a good read was how it pulled together a huge amount of research, from work on animal instincts and genetic influences on human behaviour, to psychoanalytic studies and transactional analysis. This is drawn into an easily understandable and interesting format, making it accessible to anyone with a curiosity about human relationships. There is something here that we can all associate with and reflect on.
The Psychologist
This book is informative and accurate, but also satisfies the complex needs of medical professionals and those who work in social care and related fields. Lines' choice of language is relaxed enough for most audiences to comprehend, while still maintaining a mature tone that is neither over-bearing nor pretentious. Having spent the past 22 years as a counsellor at a secondary school in Birmingham, Lines draws on a wealth of experience. It is his diverse experience in working with children that has allowed him to make poignant and accurate observations of bullying at school and beyond.
Children and Young People Now
Lines offers a thorough exploration of the complexities of bullying in the family, school, workplace and society and the relationship between bully and victim. Anyone delving into the subject will find it an excellent introduction.
Therapy today
The author nicely compares and contrasts the views from the genetic and social positions to avoid agreeing with one side of the argument. For VRCS, these chapters provide a useful evidence base for thinking about bullying which can guide intervention work with 'bullies' and 'victims'.
Safer Custody News
This book seeks to explore the complexity of bullying from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The author draws on different theoretical models and uses personal vignettes from a range of situations to demonstrate the complexity of this concept... This book has certainly broadened my understanding of bullying, both theoretically and practically. It covers a significant amount of ground and the vignettes are unique and illustrate the author's views eloquently... It has a clear style and structure which makes it easily accessible and is highly recommend for those wishing to extend their knowledge and understanding of bullying, especially psychologists and those with a pastoral responsibility in hierarchical environments, for example, schools, prisons and armed forces.
British Psychological Society, Debate
Dennis Lines shares his deep understanding and illustrates from long practical experience in the field of counselling, bullying and aggression.
Educational Review
Dennis Lines has extensive experience as a youth leader, teacher and school counsellor. His tone is engaging, open and honest. I liked the fact the text does not attempt to come up with prescriptive ideas and is not too polemical. It reasonably discusses many different perspectives, then allows readers to draw their own conclusions.
Counselling Children and Young People
Dennis Lines holds a BPhil Ed (Counselling) and is MBACP affiliated. He has been a youth leader for 12 years, an RE teacher in secondary school for 11 years, and has for the past 22 years worked as a School Counsellor in a large secondary school in Birmingham. He has published widely and given lectures and conducted workshops on adolescent development and related topics nationally.