Bullying or Ragging: Does One Size Fit All?

In this research, I investigate the characteristics of ragging and bullying as two culturally different forms of peer-on-peer violence. Indian authorities and researchers unsuccessfully apply the Western bullying research and their results to control and prevent ragging among Indian youths, while the education authorities have reserved the term ragging exclusively for a limited group of first-year university students. I argue that these two phenomena must be studied and attended separately based on the culturally-appropriate behaviours and accepted norms of the country of origin, in this case, India. As the result of this research, I concluded that despite some superficial similarities between the two phenomena of Indian ragging and Western bullying, these two topics are fundamentally different in the origins, the characteristics, and the methods of control and prevention.