Rebels Without Applause: New Study on Peer Victimization (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100928111126.htm)
QuoteScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2010) â€" Loners and antisocial kids who reject other children are often bullied at school -- an accepted form of punishment from peers as they establish social order. Such peer victimization may be an extreme group response to control renegades, according to a new study from Concordia University published in the Journal of Early Adolescence...
Thought about dropping this in the Science forum but felt it has a resonance to the behaviour of religious groups which may make it of more interest here. Group cohesion is often considered more important that the rights of the individual in many communities. When that community is dogmatic the requirement for all members of a group to behave by group standards become the driving orthopraxy by which the group begins to define itself. It's generally easier to bully than be bullied and to acquiesce to bullying than to stand up for ones individuality. The ultimate bully boy being God those who are friends of the biggest bully often have the easiest time in a group, thus religious intolerance is born of human nature.