1. The cultural-historical foundations of bullying culture. A brief synopsis of cultural change -- Religion and shame : the historical possibility of redemption -- The socialization of children and the root of contemporary shame -- Constructing a social problem : bullying and the double-edged sword of the media -- 2. Social forces and bullying. Gossip -- Laughter -- Stereotypes and categories -- Competition -- 3. Shame and identity. Shame : the social mechanics of a social emotion -- Shame and anger -- The psychodynamics of anger and the neurodynamics of pain -- Guilt -- Re-visioning shame : the strengths and weaknesses of a new paradigm -- Summary -- 4. Grieving and grief work : negotiating social pain and personal loss. Traditional conceptualizations of grief -- New models of grieving and grief work -- Bullying : a special case of loss and the pitfall of rumination -- Rumination and depression : social-psychological-neurological interface -- A final note -- 5. Narrative writing and the reconstruction of self. Overview -- Storying the brain -- Expressive writing : integrating the neural, the social, and the psychological -- Storying experiences : writing chaos and the reclamation of voice -- Memory -- Narrating an audience and defining a victim : the paradox of social stories -- A final note -- 6. Tying up loose ends : challenges to bystanders, challenges of cyberspace. Everyone else : a breakdown of bystander responsibility -- Cyberspace : new dynamics, new challenges, new potentials -- Postscript : practical suggestions -- Appendix A. The uniqueness of self and personal biography -- Appendix B. The re-visioning of liberation and womanist theologies -- Appendix C. Scheff and Retzinger : the redemptive role of communication -- Appendix D. Lyn Lofland's "threads of social connectedness" -- Appendix E. The dynamics underlying expressive writing : why does it work? -- Appendix F. Traumarama!, Seventeen magazine, and prepackaged shame.