What makes someone a bully?

I think Bullies are people who want to seek attention and are angry with themselves. They will use their anger on victims, where it is really hard for victims especially if they are children. Bullies are people who needs help, since I think they sure have a sad story behind.

You've described my neighbour. She is just like that except I don't think she sees herself as or feels like she is the victim; she's been wronged, but she does not come across as a victim. I've told her how my Dad mistreated us kids and I've also told her how I look after him from time to time and she then accuses me of "thinking the world" of my Dad. My response is, yes, I do, he's my Dad. I say "accuses" in italics because that is the tone of her voice and the way she says it. She doesn't get that even though my Dad has hurt me very much in the past and done some awful things to me, I still love him because he's my Dad. I just love him and when he's gone I will be devastated. It seems that she thinks I should think differently about him or treat him differently. And she will not change, not pull her horns in because she believes she is right in everything she does. I haven't quite decided if she's actually a bully (a bully is a bit pathetic to me) or if she is just interfering and overbearing. Other townsfolk have described her as "bossy" and "a troublemaker". When I suggest she train her pets to do what she wants rather than hit them when they do the wrong thing...she says, that's how you train them. I try to explain that the animal doesn't understand that and all the animal is learning is to be afraid. She says that's the way it's done in the bush. She would tell me stories about when she lived here before and worked at the bowls club. The stories would involve various people, usually indigenous folk, getting drunk and getting into a fight and carving each other up or otherwise seriously hurting themselves or each other and all the while she is laughing - the tears are rolling down her face - she still finds the story incredibly funny. This sort of overbearing and aggressive attitude that finds humour in people acting violently towards each other has me stumped. What do you think...is she a bully, just a twisted individual, what are your thoughts?

Someone that wants their way, and if not then there will be reprcussions that come along the way. It is very sad that a bully has nothing bettter else to do then to try to make someone do as they say. They want to be able to rule another into getting them to do what they want, when they want and how they want. They are scared to be alone. They thrive on weakness. They have a very low case of self-esteem issues. They want to be seen. They want others to bow down and worship them. What makes a bully is the bulliness in a person.

I think that a bully is just someone that has a lot of different types of emotional confusion and instability which typically must stem from something lacking in the child and their family environment. I believe that young bullies are very insecure. They must hunt for prey that they perceive to be weak so they can feel better about themselves when they pick on someone smaller that can't protect themselves. It is a sad reality that doesn't show too many signs of stopping any time soon.

When you are not being the one victimized bullying people can be quite fun. The victim just needs to stand up for themselves. They are picked on because the bully knows they won't fight back. They are picked on because they are weak or different. You see this in the wild in the animal kingdom. The weak are picked off first or are at the bottom of the pack. Someone that doesn't belong to that pack gets chased off or is accepted if it proves itself worthy. Bullies don't make people have mental problems. The odds are these victims already had problems and that is the whole reason why they were picked on in the first place. So many people want to blame the bully but maybe these kids are spotting future serial killers and nutbars.