> it is the bullying behaviour, not the characteristics of the bullied, which is the focus

This well-worded line calls to mind a girl at school who was brutally bullied and hounded by a certain clique (not by me, I can promise you) in a concerted group effort that spilled over into going to her house and tormenting her on the phone. Her family, which included one other child, finally sold their home and moved to a different city where I can only hope that this nasty experience didn't repeat itself, though the mental scars would have made the journey with her. And there are always those character-types who can smell out vulnerability like sharks scenting blood, thus victimhood becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What's so worrying is that there was simply NOTHING about her that would single her out as a focus of gang-contempt mentality: she was not ugly (rather pretty, in fact), did not belong to any ethnic or racial minority, had no physical or mental disabilities, wasn't stupid, didn't have a geeky personality or weird preferences...????? I still don't get it. Reminds me of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.