Verbal and social abuse always went hand in hand with the physical one. Physical bullying is just one tactic bullies used. The same bully that beats a guy always mocked the same guy and badmouthed him to others.

I am old enough to remember that bullying victims were blamed back then. The victim blaming was not a term yet, they were blamed for not fighting back. But if they fought back they were also blamed for the resulting ruckus.

The primary reason was that dealing with bully is hard. Blaming victim is easy.