"Aberrance functions only within support groups. If aberrance is marginalized, it can’t metastasize."

"So, school bullying: if the bully were ostracized, if the bully was the lowest-status person, if the bully was someone no one wanted to associate with, bullying could not spread. When the culture actually supports bullying, when the culture considers bullying a sign of masculinity—then it spreads."

"The same thing with an institutional [prison] community: what’s tolerated; what’s not tolerated; what’s supported; what is a sign of actual manhood? So, for the first time, they [the inmates of the juvenile institution ANDROS II] were introduced to the concept that the most 'man' you can be is when you protect somebody weaker than you, and the least 'man' you can be is when you prey on them. Those were new messages, but they weren’t delivered in lectures; they were delivered by total bombardment, so the entire community reflected the culture."

"Essentially, you’re trying to overcome a culture by replacing it with a different one. In order to change the culture, you have to start in the culture. You can’t start from the outside. So, saying 'we disapprove of bullying'—everybody always 'disapproves' of bullying. But as long as the bullies are embraced within the school culture, they’ll continue."

"If you look at bullying logically, then you can see it’s the root of all evil. Not money, but bullying. That’s all it takes: the imposition of your will, your desires, your wishes, on another human being by force or intimidation. You can see it in Rwanda just as easily as you can see it in the schoolyard. Different canvas, different color paint, but it’s exactly the same thing: 'I can make you do what I want you to do, because I’m stronger than you. It’s not a question that I’m smarter or I’m more ethical or I’m more entitled. I’m simply stronger.'"

— Excerpted from An Interview with Andrew Vachss, by Jake Adelstein, Yomiuri Tokyo Bureau, 2002