Can bullies be rehabilitated?

The answer is not simple and straight forward as it depends on why the bully became a bully in the first place and whether s/he realises that what s/he does is destructive and needs to be changed. The leadership style of the bully has a lot to do with how bullying acts manifest (autocratic, laissez faire). The autocratic bully is often guilty of committing acts of bullying, while the laissez faire leader is prone to avoid conflict thereby allowing bullying to thrive. Both of these require the bully to understand why they act the way they do, what gave rise to this type of orientation. The bullied bully, and the pressure bully are the easiest to rehabilitate because they are normal even nice people who adopt bullying tactics to deal with pressure and their own work stresses. They are also the most remorseful of all the categories of bullies. With training in how to avoid triggers, these bullies can easily be rehabilitated. Bullies who became bullies due to misconstruing what their positions entitle them to can also be rehabilitated if they come to realise that their beliefs about leadership are faulty and they commit to changing them. The same is the case with bullies who were exposed to bullies as bad leadership role models. These categories of bullies can unlearn the negative behaviours and replace these with affirming prosocial behaviours with persistence and practice. The most difficult bully to rehabilitate is the bully who is prone to bully behaviours due to a personality defect or deeply ingrained belief system- requiring years of therapy.