Saturday, December 28, 2013

Bullying Can Lead to PTSD Symptoms | Psych Central News

Bullying Can Lead to PTSD Symptoms



By Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 28, 2012

Bullying Can Lead to PTSD SymptomsA new study has found a high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among teenagers who have been bullied.

The study of 963 teens aged 14 and 15 in Norwegian schools found symptoms of the disorder in about 33 percent of the students who said they were victims of bullying — though it did not determine that these students were diagnosed with full-blown PTSD.

"This is noteworthy, but nevertheless unsurprising," said psychologist Dr. Thormod Idsøe from the University of Stavanger (UiS) and Bergen's Center for Crisis Psychology.

"Bullying is defined as long-term physical or mental violence by an individual or group. It's directed at a person who's not able to defend themselves at the relevant time. We know that such experiences can leave a mark on the victim."

The study measured the extent of intrusive memories and avoidance behavior, two of three defined PTSD symptoms. The third, physiological stress activation, was not covered.

"Traumatic experiences or strains imposed on us by others can often hurt more than accidents," said Idsøe. "That could be why so many pupils report such symptoms."

The PTSD symptoms can make it difficult to concentrate and have a disruptive effect on daily life, preventing those who are bullied from functioning normally, according to the researcher.

"Pupils who're constantly plagued by thoughts about or images of painful experiences, and who use much energy to suppress them, will clearly have less capacity to concentrate on schoolwork," he said. "Nor is this usually easy to observe — they often suffer in silence."

According to the new study, girls are more likely to display PTSD symptoms than boys.

"We also found that those with the worst symptoms were a small group of pupils who, in addition to being victims of bullying, frequently bullied fellow pupils themselves," he said.

The researcher noted it is to difficult to provide a definite explanation of why some groups are more likely to develop PTSD symptoms. "One explanation, for example, could be that difficult earlier experiences make the sufferers more vulnerable, and they thereby develop symptoms and mental health problems more easily," he said.

He added that he hopes the study's findings can help to boost awareness that a number of bullied schoolchildren may need support even after the mistreatment has ended. "In such circumstances, adult responsibility isn't confined to stopping the bullying," he said. "It also extends to following up the victims."

The study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

Source: University of Stavanger

Girl being bullied photo by shutterstock.

 

 

APA Reference
Wood, J. (2012). Bullying Can Lead to PTSD Symptoms. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 28, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/11/28/bullying-can-lead-to-ptsd-symptoms/48213.html

 



 edd, edm

Mobbing-U.S.A. - Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace

MOBBING IS...

  • EMOTIONAL ABUSE in the workplace.
  • "Ganging up" by co-workers, subordinates or superiors, to force someone out of the workplace through rumor, innuendo, intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, and isolation.
  • Malicious, nonsexual, nonracial, general harassment.

Other expressions for MOBBING are:

  • Bullying
  • Psychological terror or aggression
  • Hostile behaviors at work
  • Workplace trauma
  • Incivility
  • Emotional violence
We consider MOBBING an emotional injury that impacts a target's mental and physical health. MOBBING is a workplace safety and health issue.

This site informs about the MOBBING phenomenon. You find information about the book "MOBBING: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace" and information about services and resources that help targets of mobbing or organizations deal with the phenomenon in a constructive fashion.

Dr. Heinz Leymann (www.leymann.se), an industrial psychologist and medical scientist with an M.D. in psychiatry, has pioneered the research on MOBBING in Sweden in the early eighties. MOBBING has since become a household word in several European countries.

The book "MOBBING: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace" by Noa Zanolli Davenport Ph.D., Ruth Distler Schwartz, and Gail Pursell Elliott is partially based on Dr. Leymann's work. The book and this site are primarily intended as a self-help tool and a resource for targets of workplace mobbing. We also address responsible management and human resources personnel, unions, health care providers, insurance agencies, and lawyers as well as families and friends of targets of mobbing. Above all, we encourage preventive, timely and appropriate action.

Since the publication of MOBBING in 1999, we have received only positive feedback.We acknowledge the hundreds of persons who gratefully wrote to us. They confirmed that our initial intent to offer a self-help book was met.

Awareness is slowly growing in the U.S. and in Canada about the darker side of work and the devastating effects that mobbing and bullying can have on the self, health, organizations and society. Our colleagues in North America, though still rather few, do their part to contribute to the growing interest. For example: Three conferences on the topic have been organized in the U.S. since 2000, in California, Massachusetts and Iowa; the Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Oregon has established the first anti-mobbing policy in the U.S.; efforts to add new anti-mobbing legislation are under way in California, other states and in Canada; and several new Internet self-help and advice groups and websites address specific professional groups or aspects of incivility at work. In the aftermath of the Columbine and other school shooting tragedies, the media has increasingly discussed bullying in the schools, thus also raising awareness of adult bullying/mobbing in the workplace.

The authors continue to present about workplace mobbing to the media, corporations, and professional organizations; and Noa Zanolli Davenport has also been retained as expert witness in legal cases. And, last but not least, our book has been used as required reading in several college courses.

Parallel to these developments in the U.S., pro-action keeps growing around the world. For example, a major international conference was held in early 2002 in Australia. In January 2002, France enacted an anti-mobbing law. In, Canada, the province of Quebec, has adopted anti-harassment/mobbing legislation. In Columbia, anti-harassment legislation has been enacted in February 2006. We are proud to say that our book and website were quoted by the congressmen who sponsored the bill before the Columbian Congress. Most importantly, in Germany, workplace mobbing has been acknowledged in the medical establishment as an ill-making condition and is recognized in the European Union as an occupational safety and health risk. Our book has raised interest in Japan and Turkey and translated editions are now also available. Read the Preface for the 3rd printing (August 2005).



Elyssa D. Durant © DailyDDoSe™ © 2013

Mapping the Effects g PTSD

Complex post traumatic stress disorder (complex ptsd, pdsd, shell shock, nervous shock, combat fatigue), symptoms and the difference between mental illness and psychiatric injury explained

In the previous version of DSM (DSM-III) a criterion of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was for the sufferer to have faced a single major life-threatening event; this criterion was present because a) it was thought that PTSD could not be a result of "normal" events such as bereavement, business failure, interpersonal conflict, bullying, harassment, stalking, marital disharmony, working for the emergency services, etc, and b) most of the research on PTSD had been undertaken with people who had suffered a threat to life (eg combat veterans, especially from Vietnam, victims of accident, disaster, and acts of violence).

A. The person experiences a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

1. the person experienced or witnessed or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others;
2. the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

B. The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in any of the following ways:

1. recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts or perceptions;
2. recurrent distressing dreams of the event;
3. acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (eg reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those on wakening or when intoxicated);
4. intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolise or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event;
5. physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolise or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma) as indicated by at least three of:

1. efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the trauma;
2. efforts to avoid activities, places or people that arouse recollections of this trauma;
3. inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma;
4. markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities;
5. feeling of detachment or estrangement from others;
6. restricted range of affect (eg unable to have loving feelings);
7. sense of a foreshortened future (eg does not expect to have a career, marriage, children or a normal life span).

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma) as indicated by at least two of the following:

1. difficulty falling or staying asleep;
2. irritability or outbursts of anger;
3. difficulty concentrating;
4. hypervigilance;
5. exaggerated startle response.

E. The symptoms on Criteria B, C and D last for more than one month.

F. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.



Elyssa D. Durant © DailyDDoSe™ © 2013

Bullying and Complex PTSD

Complex post traumatic stress disorder (complex ptsd, pdsd, shell shock, nervous shock, combat fatigue), symptoms and the difference between mental illness and psychiatric injury explained

In the previous version of DSM (DSM-III) a criterion of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was for the sufferer to have faced a single major life-threatening event; this criterion was present because a) it was thought that PTSD could not be a result of "normal" events such as bereavement, business failure, interpersonal conflict, bullying, harassment, stalking, marital disharmony, working for the emergency services, etc, and b) most of the research on PTSD had been undertaken with people who had suffered a threat to life (eg combat veterans, especially from Vietnam, victims of accident, disaster, and acts of violence)

A. The person experiences a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

1. the person experienced or witnessed or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others;
2. the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

B. The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in any of the following ways:

1. recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts or perceptions;
2. recurrent distressing dreams of the event;
3. acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (eg reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those on wakening or when intoxicated);
4. intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolise or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event;
5. physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolise or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma) as indicated by at least three of:

1. efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the trauma;
2. efforts to avoid activities, places or people that arouse recollections of this trauma;
3. inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma;
4. markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities;
5. feeling of detachment or estrangement from others;
6. restricted range of affect (eg unable to have loving feelings);
7. sense of a foreshortened future (eg does not expect to have a career, marriage, children or a normal life span).

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma) as indicated by at least two of the following:

1. difficulty falling or staying asleep;
2. irritability or outbursts of anger;
3. difficulty concentrating;
4. hypervigilance;
5. exaggerated startle response.

E. The symptoms on Criteria B, C and D last for more than one month.

F. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.



Elyssa D. Durant © DailyDDoSe™ 2007-2008

What Is Bullying??

What Is Bullying?

Updated by Tim Field Foundation

"...A major barrier to organizational efficiency and productivity and a major cost to organizations and to economies as a whole." - Clive R Boddy

On this page:

Definitions of bullying:
What's the difference between bullying, harassment and assault?
Where are people bullied?
What is Workplace Bullying?
How does it happen in a civilised environment?
Who is behind workplace bullying
What triggers bullying?
What does bullying do to health?
What happens when someone complains about bullying?
What a bully might say when held to account
Am I Being Bullied?
What can I do if I'm being bullied?
What can you do if one of your employees is accused of bullying?

On other pages:

Different types of workplace bullying
The difference between bullying and harassment
Why Me?

Definitions of bullying:

Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating or insulting behaviour, abuse of power, or unfair punishment which upsets, threatens and/or humiliates the recipient(s), undermining their self-confidence, reputation and ability to perform. Derived from "Bullying at work: how to tackle it. A guide for MSF representatives and members: MSF 1995

When considering the reasonableness of the conduct in question, the perpetrator can be expected to give an innocent reason for their actions. However, their claimed intention does not define the reasonableness of their conduct: The prime consideration must be the effect of the conduct on the recipient.

Context is everything. The persistence, the pattern and the effect of incidents which are, in isolation, trivial, creates the context in which those incidents can be regarded as bullying. Examples of the sort of incidents and the patterns are given below.

Workplace bullying is commonly sustained by denial, ignorance and indifference, often in a climate of fear, with a common result being the premature departure of the target and reward for the perpetrator. Tim Field

Making a complaint or holding someone to account for substandard conduct, so long as it is done fairly and reasonably in good faith, is not bullying.

Others have given differently worded definitions, which essentially mean the same thing:

Rayner and Hoel provide five categories of bullying behaviour. These are threat to professional status (for example, belittling opinion, public professional humiliation, accusation of lack of effort); threat to personal standing (for example, name calling, insults, teasing); isolation (for example, preventing access to opportunities such as training, withholding information); overwork (for example, undue pressure to produce work, impossible deadlines, unnecessary disruptions); and destabilisation (for example, failure to give credit when due, meaningless tasks, removal of responsibility, shifting of goal posts).

Source: Workplace bullying in NHS community trust: staff questionnaire surveyLyn Quine, reader in health psychology
Workplace bullying is defined as the repeated unethical and unfavorable treatment of one person by another in the workplace. This includes behavior designed to belittle others via humiliation, sarcasm, rudeness, overworking an employee, threats, and violence. Constance Dierickx, Ph.D

What's the difference between bullying, harassment and assault?

Bullying differs from harassment and assault in that the latter can result from a small number of fairly serious incidents - which everybody recognises as harassment or assault - whereas bullying tends to be an accumulation of many small incidents over a long period of time. Each incident tends to be trivial, and on its own and out of context does not constitute an offence or grounds for disciplinary or grievance action.

Where are people bullied?

  • in long term jobs, by managers, co-workers or subordinates, or by clients (bullying, workplace bullying, mobbing, work abuse, harassment, discrimination)
  • in short term jobs such as the performing arts, agriculture or construction, where the engager, gangmaster or supervisor has complete power over workers.(bullying, harassment, discrimination, assault)
  • in the armed forces, religious organisations and the media by "untouchable" characters (bullying, harassment, discrimination, assault, rape)
  • at home by partner, parent, uncle, sibling (bullying, assault, domestic violence, abuse, verbal abuse, rape)
  • at home by landlords, their agents, debt collectors (bullying, harassment)
  • at home by neighbours (bullying, harassment)
  • at school (bullying, harassment, assault)
  • in hospitals, convalescent homes, care homes, residential homes (bullying, harassment, assault)
  • in public by strangers (harassment, stalking, assault, sexual assault, rape, grievous bodily harm, murder)

This is not an exhaustive list and does not include activities readily identifiable as criminal.

What is Workplace Bullying?

The purpose of bullying is to hide inadequacy. It has nothing to do with managing: Management is managing; bullying is not managing. Anyone who chooses to bully implicitly admits their inadequacy.

Some people project their inadequacy onto others:

  • to avoid facing up to and doing something about it;
  • to avoid accepting responsibility for their behaviour and the effect it has; and
  • to dilute their fear of being seen as weak, inadequate and possibly incompetent; and
  • to divert attention away from the same: In badly run workplaces, bullying is the way that inadequate, incompetent and aggressive employees keep their jobs and obtain promotion.

Bullying destroys teams, causing disenchantment, demoralisation, demotivation, disaffection, and alienation. Bullies run dysfunctional and inefficient organisations; staff turnover and sickness absence are high whilst morale, productivity and profitability are low. Any perceived efficiency gains from bullying are a short term illusion: Long term prospects are always at serious risk.

Bullying behaviours are behind all forms of harassment, discrimination, prejudice, abuse, persecution, terrorism, conflict and violence. Understanding bullying gives a person the opportunity to understand that which underpins almost all forms of reprehensible behavior. Because of that, bullying remains the single most important social issue of today.

Workplace Bullying tends to happen in phases that can be called (1) Isolation, (2) Control and Subjugation and (3) Elimination. The terminology in the examples applies to workplaces but has parallels in other situations. Examples are loosely categorised under the "Phase" headings but in reality any of the example behaviours can occur in any phase.

Isolation

  • constant nit-picking, fault-finding and criticism of a trivial nature - the triviality, regularity and frequency betray bullying; often there is a grain of truth (but only a grain) in the criticism to fool the people (including the target) into believing the criticism has validity, which it does not; often, the criticism is based on distortion, misrepresentation or fabrication.
  • simultaneous with the criticism, a persistent refusal to acknowledge the target and his or her contributions and achievements or to recognise their existence and value;
  • constant attempts to undermine the target and his or her position, status, worth, value and potential where the target is in a group (eg at work),
  • being isolated and separated from colleagues, excluded from what's going on, marginalized, overruled, ignored, sidelined, frozen out, "sent to Coventry"
  • The above can be done with or without the cover of a formal disciplinary or capability procedure.


Control and Subjugation

  • being singled out and treated differently; for instance, everyone else can get away with murder but the moment the target puts a foot wrong - however trivial - action is taken against them;
  • being belittled, demeaned and patronised, especially in front of others;
  • being humiliated, shouted at and threatened, often in front of others being overloaded with work, or having all their work taken away and replaced with either menial tasks (filing, photocopying, minute taking) or with no work at all finding that their work, and the credit for it, is stolen and plagiarised;
  • having responsibility increased but authority removed;
  • having annual leave, sickness leave, and (especially) compassionate leave refused
  • being denied training necessary to fulfill duties
  • having unrealistic goals set, which change as they approach, also deadlines change at short notice, or no notice, and the target only finds out when its too late to do anything about it.
  • being the subject of gossip which has the effect of damaging one's reputation.

Elimination

  • the target finds that everything they say and do is twisted, distorted and misrepresented;
  • is subjected to disciplinary procedures with verbal or written warnings imposed for trivial or fabricated reasons and without proper investigation, or with a sham investigation;
  • is coerced into leaving through no fault of their own, constructive dismissal, early or ill-health retirement, etc
  • is dismissed following specious allegations of misconduct or incapability which have just a grain of truth, to give superficial legitimacy to the dismissal.

One way to conceal bullying is to have regular or even continuous "reorganisations", where:-

  • targets can be "organized out" - this applies to anyone whose face doesn't fit, i.e. anyone who has identified, complained about or challenged problems with the status quo;
  • they can have their roles "regraded" or "redefined", if not being organised out.
  • The bully's allies and political pawns can be promoted to positions of influence.

Where a re-organisation seems pointless or counter-productive, or if it involves a disproportionate amount of disruption in relation to the perceived benefit of the change, it could be a smokescreen to conceal (and be a vehicle of) bullying. People are so busy coping with the chaos that bullying goes unnoticed. At the same time, the person responsible can claim to be reorganising in the name of efficiency, thus earning him or her the respect of superiors.

Business stakeholders should note that bullying, and these forms of concealment, may be distracting attention from financial fraud, corruption, misappropriation of funds and so on.

How does it happen in a civilised environment?

Bullying happens under the noses of those who should care enough to stop it but who don't, either because they simply cannot believe it could happen, or because they fear of the consequences (for them) of doing something about it. Thus, targets of bullying and abuse are often not believed when they do report it.

People who bully in adult life tend to be drawn to positions offering them ostensibly legitimate power of some sort, such as jobs that come with administrative or organisational authority over others. It is possible for a sufficiently dishonest person to abuse a position of trust to conceal negligence, incompetence, fraud and more, without ever being held accountable. Subjugation and control by guilt and by threats of worse to come allows abusers to take what they want, and to minimise the risk of being reported, or of such reports being believed by, appropriate authorities. 

It helps if the bully's superiors and peers are also bullies, or if they are so naive that bullying by this person is literally unthinkable, or they're scared of the consequences of crossing the bully. Whatever the underlying reasons, the legitimate authority that comes with a job works to protect bullies from comeback, because their peers and subordinates, HR & legal departments and other bystanders, more often than not, blindly respect the legitimacy of the "master-servant" relationship. Where there are two contrasting accounts of a situation, the default position is to respect the "master's" opinion. Thus, the perpetrator is often given support while the target is shut out and eventually forced to leave, usually under a cloud, freeing the perpetrator to attend to their next target.

There is little to differentiate this cycle of abuse from the situation of child-abusing priests, where children were too frightened to complain, or were not believed, and where the priests were allowed to continue to destroy the lives of children in their "care". The worst that happened to those who were identified as abusers was a move to a different location.

Following the death in 2011 of UK TV and radio presenter Jimmy Savile, stories of abuse by started to emerge from hundreds of adults, claiming to have been abused by Savile as children. Much of Savile's career involved working with children and young people, including visiting schools and hospital wards. He spent 20 years presenting BBC's Top of the Pops before a teenage audience, and another 20 years presenting "Jim'll Fix It", in which he helped the wishes of viewers, mainly children, come true. He was renowned for his charitable work. In October 2012, when the police were pursuing 400 separate lines of inquiry relating to Savile, John Cameron of the NSPCC said Savile was "a well-organised prolific sex offender, who's used his power, his authority, his influence to procure children and offend against them."  The Savile situation demonstrated the propensity among victims of abuse by a popular figure to remain silent, probably because, among other things, of a fear of not being believed. That fear may well be justified: There were police inquiries while Savile was alive, but none led to any charges being brought, because there was "insufficient evidence".

Subordinates bully their bosses too. The power or "advantage" which a bully uses is not restricted to that which comes with position. Power can exist in many forms, including the potential to destroy the boss's reputation with false or unfair accusations, or a threat that someone could make an excessive fuss if they don't get their way, or it could take on the form of spreading malicious rumours, saying things that would never be said to the target's face. In summary, a bully needs to have some form of advantage over the target, and that advantage can take on many forms.

Tim Field wrote that in environments where bullying prevails, most people will eventually either become bullies or targets. There are few bystanders, as most people will eventually be sucked in. It's about survival: people either adopt bullying tactics themselves and thus survive by not becoming a target, or they stand up against bullying and refuse to join in, in which case they are at risk of being bullied, harassed, victimized and scapegoated until they have to resign, and/or their health is so severely impaired that they have a stress breakdown, take ill-health retirement or are dismissed on capability grounds, or otherwise find themselves unexpectedly selected for redundancy, or being dismissed on grounds of misconduct.

Who is behind workplace bullying?

Most workplace bullying is traceable to a person with several of these traits, some of which might only be evident to those who are being or have been bullied themselves:

Charismatic

  • May occupy a role that is important in some way;
  • Very self-assured;
  • May be believed to be doing or to have done something selfless or of great value, eg charitable work or turning a failing department or business around;
  • May give off an impression of trustworthiness and reliability.
  • Has an air of untouchability: questioning this person's actions or decisions is taboo especially among peers and superiors.

Deceptive

  • compulsive liar: spontaneously makes things up to fit the needs of the moment; routinely embellishes stories for effect;
  • convinces superiors and peers by seeming plausible and convincing, sometimes by copying others' behaviour, words or work;
  • portrays him or herself as kind, caring and compassionate but only behaves this way where it leads to personal gain;
  • doesn't listen, can't sustain a meaningful conversation;
  • hollow, superficial and glib;
  • seems to have an overbearing belief in his or her qualities (especially as a leader or manager);
  • apparently cannot distinguish between leadership, management and bullying;
    • i.e. cannot distinguish between maturity and immaturity, decisiveness and impulsiveness, assertiveness and aggression, personal objectives and corporate objectives, eloquence and crassness; honesty and deceitfulness;
  • is oblivious to the difference between how he or she would like to be seen, and how he or she is seen.

Manipulative

  • is drawn to positions of power;
  • wants to control everything;
  • has a subjective sense of right and wrong.
    • "Right" is whatever he or she can get away with, such as falsifying time sheets to inflate income;
    • "Wrong" could be anything done by others, justifying the bully's punishment, threats, control etc, such as refusing to falsify time sheets for the bully or, indeed, falsifying them under duress;
  • projects his or her own shortcomings onto others;
  • distorts peoples' perceptions of reality through falsehood and gossip;
  • rewrites history to paint a better picture of him or herself and/or a worse picture of someone else;
  • Tells different people different things, causing confusion, disruption, division and conflict;
  • is selectively (un)friendly and (un)cooperative:-
    • is mean, officious and inappropriately inflexible with some people; but is generous, relaxed and very accommodating with others;
    • may motivate allies with the prospect of reward; but motivates most people with fear and guilt.
  • threatens dire consequences for people under his or her influence, who think or act for themselves. Threats could be made directly in private, or indirectly in front of witnesses;
  • warns targets that no-one will believe them if they report the bullying;
  • once called to account:-
    • aggressively denies and refutes any criticism, counter-attacking the critic with fabricated or distorted counter-criticism;
    • claims to have been bullied by the complainant, feigns victimhood, ("poor me"), uses amateur dramatics (bursting into tears etc), to avoid the question and evade accountability,
    • makes others feel guilty for daring to suggest that he or she might have done the slightest thing wrong;

Jekyll & Hyde nature

  • can be innocent and charming some of the time (typically in the presence of witnesses), but vicious and vindictive at other times (typically where there are no witnesses).

Ruthless and unpleasant

  • lacks a conscience, shows no remorse;
  • has a compulsive need to criticise;
  • is often devious, manipulative, spiteful, vengeful;
  • becomes impatient, irritable and aggressive if asked to address the needs and concerns of others;
  • may be emotionally cold, humourless, joyless;
  • may exhibit inappropriate or unusual attitudes to sex, gender, race, disability and other personal characteristics.

Tim Field estimated that one person in thirty has several of these traits, describing them as aggressive but intelligent individuals who express their aggression psychologically (constant criticism etc) rather than physically (assault).

(More information on the Serial Bully)

What triggers bullying?

Where a person displays some of the above traits, bullying can start simply because the target is there, and does nothing at all to provoke it. Bullying may be unwittingly provoked because the target is competent, popular, successful, has integrity or otherwise characteristics that the bully perceives as a threat to their own status, fearing that the target will - inadvertently or deliberately - expose some negative aspect of their activity. Bullying is a common response to raising concerns about malpractice (eg fraud, health and safety breaches and bullying), sometimes called "whistle-blowing". Where a bully wants an employee dismissed, but there is no legally fair reason, a bully-tolerant employer will apply conduct and capability procedures, inappropriately and unfairly, to superficially justify the employee's elimination from the organisation and thus reduce the prospect of being sued for unfair dismissal. Used in that way, such procedures are themselves vehicles of bullying by the person(s) conducting them.

What does bullying do to health?

Bullying can cause injury to health and make people ill, with some or all of the symptoms below. Many, if not all of these symptoms are consequences of the high levels of stress and anxiety that bullying creates:

  • shattered self-confidence, low self-worth, low self-esteem, loss of self-love, etc
  • reactive depression, a feeling of woebegoneness, lethargy, hopelessness, anger, futility and more
  • hypersensitivity, fragility, isolation, withdrawal
  • obsession, not being able to stop thinking about the experience in all its detail
  • hypervigilance (feels like but is not paranoia), being constantly on edge
  • uncharacteristic irritability and angry outbursts
  • tearfulness, bursting into tears regularly and over trivial things
  • sweating, trembling, shaking, palpitations, panic attacks
  • bad or intermittently-functioning memory, forgetfulness, especially with trivial day-to-day things
  • poor concentration, can't concentrate on anything for long
  • skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis, athlete's foot, ulcers, shingles, urticaria
  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • flashbacks and replays, obsessiveness, can't get the bullying out of your mind
  • tiredness, exhaustion, constant fatigue sleeplessness, nightmares, waking early, waking up more tired than when you went to bed
  • headaches and migraines
  • aches and pains in the joints and muscles with no obvious cause; also
  • back pain with no obvious cause and which won't go away or respond to treatment
  • frequent illness such as viral infections especially flu and glandular fever, colds, coughs, chest, ear, nose and throat infections (stress plays havoc with the immune system.)

For the full set of symptoms of injury to health caused by prolonged negative stress (such as that caused by bullying, harassment, abuse etc) click here. For details of the trauma that can result, click here.

What happens when someone complains about bullying?

Given the character traits of a typical workplace bully, they can give very plausible accounts of what has happened so, when the target makes a formal complaint, and if the employer takes any notice, they are often convinced by the bully, dismissing the target's account of things.

As mentioned above, if the bully is further up the hierarchy than the target, the bully's peers, HR & legal departments and other bystanders will often believe the bully by default, just because of the office they hold. (The actions they take next also constitute bullying).

For the target, the experience of being "swept under the carpet" in such circumstances can be equally or more traumatic than the original bullying, and where the employer is determined not to acknowledge the problem, it can lead to prolonged absence that ends with resignation, ill-health retirement or dismissal of the target on specious grounds of conduct or capability, as well as legal proceedings.

Where there have been previous similar complaints about a person's conduct, and where those complaints have been followed by illness and/or untimely departures of the persons making the complaint, one might imagine that any HR officer it would spot the similarities, think "enough is enough", and do something about it. However, the HR officer might be beguiled by or terrified of or dependent upon or be the bully, and find it easier to dispose of new complaints in the same way as before.

Where a business opts to protect a bully, the business takes on the task, costs and liabilities associated with resisting and eliminating the target, freeing the bully to focus attention on the next target.

What a bully might say when held to account

This is a real-life text book example of a bully's response to accusations of bullying, when his game was almost up. In May 2013, former TV presenter Stuart Hall pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent assault involving 13 victims, over a period of 18 years. Four months earlier, however, Hall spoke to reporters after his initial appearance in court. Hall's words are in italics, with our understanding of what he meant in brackets:

  • "May I just say these allegations are pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious.
    • (TFF inference: "I project the key qualities of my sexual deviancy - perniciousness, callousness, cruelty and spuriousness - onto my victims' allegations.")
  • "And may I just say I am not guilty and will be defending these accusations.
    • ("I am prepared to waste taxpayers' resources and commit perjury")
  • "Like a lot of other people in this country today I am wondering why it has taken 30 or 40 years for these allegations to surface.
    • ("I want you to doubt the credibility of my victims")
    • NOTE that Hall inadvertently gave a bit of the game away by using the word "surface", implying that he knew there was substance to the allegations and that it had thus far been hidden beneath the proverbial surface.
  • "The last two months of my life have been a living nightmare. I have never gone through so much stress in my life and I am finding it difficult to sustain.
    • ("Poor me. Please share the contempt I have for my victims, by focusing on the terrible harm they have done to me")
  • "Fortunately I have a very loving family and they are very supportive and I think but for their love I might have been constrained to take my own life.
    • ("I need you to associate me with the image of a loving family, which has also been harmed by my victims. Poor family, poor me. What a close shave I am having.")
  • "They have encouraged me to fight on, to fight the charges and regain my reputation and good name and whatever I have represented to this country down the years.
    • ("I have lied to everyone - those closest to me and the general public - for years. Even my family think I am innocent. Most people have always thought I was wonderful and I need that to continue. Who gives a damn about the children and young women I assaulted.")
  • "With that I would like to thank everybody who has supported me for their good will which has sustained me through this absolutely horrific ordeal.
    • ("In case I have not already made the point, my victims are audacious and horrible for coming forward. I genuinely hope that you feel sorry for me.")
  • "As I say I shall be defending myself. I am 83 years old. I was a healthy 83 year old, but I am now incubating a heart complaint and I'll be very lucky to survive another couple of years.
    • (In case you don't already feel sorry for me, feel sorry for me because I am frail and I've got a heart condition, and it's all my victims' fault. To help me get away with this, I need you to feel really, really sorry for me, and I need you and the general public to share the disdain and contempt I have for my victims.")
  • "But I hope to survive those two years and regain my honour and reputation and more than ever, my life."
    • ("My reputation and being untouchable are what let me get away with these crimes for so long. If I can just sustain those things I might reach the end of my life without being punished, like Jimmy Savile. To that end, I intend to continue fooling my family, my lawyers and the courts, you reporters and the whole world, into thinking that I must be innocent.")

Stuart Hall's comments to news reporters after his initial court appearance were just what you should expect a bully to say when they are being held to account. Their words are meant to make the listener feel sorry for the accused and contempt for the accuser. In Hall's case, they were intended to manipulate public opinion in his favour because, in his case, having a jovial reputation and the public on his side had been enough to deter his victims from reporting his crimes.

If you question an alleged bully, and the response is a "poor me" melodrama, punctuated with expressions of contempt and disdain for the accuser, it could well be an implicit admission of guilt.

Am I Being Bullied?

Some people are bullied for years without actually realising it, and others, who are not being bullied at all, claim that they are victims and seem to revel in the drama. (See the Stuart Hall example and "Who is Behind Workplace Bullying", above.)

Anyone thinking they might be being bullied needs to step back from the situation and be as objective as possible. This can be difficult for someone who is being psychologically manipulated. They can feel guilty about things that are not their fault. A person on the receiving end of abuse might have become convinced that it is futile or dangerous to make an accusation about someone who is in fact abusing them. Its a good idea for them to discuss it with a trusted friend or someone who is completely independent.

Before you accuse someone of bullying, make sure it is really happening. Think it possible that you may be mistaken. Rule out possible alternative explanations for your experience, such as:-

  • Some things that feel like bullying are not bullying: for example, if you know you have broken some disciplinary rule, you will know that your employer is allowed to use a fair disciplinary procedure to deal with that. If you have behaved badly yourself, then the way you're treated might be a reaction to that, but, unless you know you have behaved badly, talk about it to a friend before judging yourself.
  • If you don't like the way someone is treating you, have you made allowances for the way they are behaving? They might be having a bad day or week. People can lose their temper under pressure, and it might be a short term issue. They might be being bullied themselves. Has this happened before? Is there a pattern to their behaviour?
  • Does your unhappiness stem from this experience, or from something else?

People who are bullied find that they are:

  • Isolated
    • isolated and excluded from what's happening;
    • denied information or knowledge necessary for undertaking work and achieving objectives
    • starved of resources, sometimes whilst others often receive more than they need
    • denied support by their manager and thus find themselves working in a management vacuum
    • either overloaded with work (this keeps people busy [with no time to tackle bullying] and makes it harder to achieve targets) or have all their work taken away (which is sometimes replaced with inappropriate menial jobs, eg photocopying, filing, making coffee)
    • have their responsibility increased but their authority removed
    • overruled, ignored, sidelined, marginalised, ostracised
    • given "the silent treatment": the bully refuses to communicate and avoids eye contact (always an indicator of an abusive relationship); often instructions are received only via email, memos, or a succession of yellow stickies or post-it notes
  • Controlled and Subjugated
    • do not have a clear job description, or have one that is exceedingly long;
    • set unrealistic goals and deadlines which are unachievable or which are changed without notice or reason or whenever they get near achieving them
    • frequently or constantly criticised and subjected to unwarranted, destructive criticism;
    • encouraged to feel guilty, and to believe they're always the one at fault
      • when they defend themselves, their explanations and proof of achievements are ridiculed, overruled, dismissed or ignored;
    • frequently subject to nit-picking and trivial fault-finding. The triviality reveals an absence of any serious concern
    • subject to excessive monitoring, supervision, micro-management, recording, snooping etc
    • undermined, especially in front of others. Concerns are raised, or doubts expressed about a person's performance or standard of work, but the concerns lack substance and cannot be quantified, or are simply false;
    • threatened, shouted at and humiliated, especially in front of others
    • taunted and teased where the intention is to embarrass and humiliate
    • singled out and treated differently, e.g. being disciplined for arriving one minute late, when others stroll in late without penalty;
    • belittled, degraded, demeaned, ridiculed, patronised, subject to disparaging remarks
    • regularly the target of offensive language, personal remarks, or inappropriate bad language
    • have their work plagiarised, stolen and copied - the bully then presents their target's work (eg to senior management) as their own
    • the subject of written complaints by other members of staff (who have been coerced into fabricating allegations - the complaints are trivial, often bizarre ["He looked at me in a funny way"] and often bear striking similarity to each other, suggesting a common origin)
    • forced to work long hours, often without remuneration and under threat of dismissal
    • refused requests for leave, or unacceptable and unnecessary conditions are attached
    • denied annual leave, sickness leave, or - especially - compassionate leave
    • when on leave, are harassed by calls at home or on holiday, often at unsocial hours
    • receive unpleasant or threatening calls or are harassed with intimidating memos, notes or emails with no verbal communication, immediately prior to weekends and holidays (eg 4pm Friday or Christmas Eve - often these are hand-delivered)
  • Eliminated
    • are invited to "informal" meetings which turn out to be disciplinary hearings
    • facing unjustified disciplinary action on trivial or specious or false charges
    • subjected to unwarranted and unjustified verbal or written warnings
    • are denied representation at meetings, often under threat of further disciplinary action; sometimes the bully abuses their position of power to exclude any representative who is competent to deal with bullying
    • dismissed on fabricated charges or flimsy excuses, often using a trivial incident from months or years previously
    • coerced into reluctant resignation, enforced redundancy, early or ill-health retirement
    • denied the right to earn their livelihood including being prevented from getting another job, usually with a bad or misleading reference

If you're reading this because you think someone you know is being treated this way, send them a link to the page or print it and give it to them - it might be the best thing you ever do for them. If you're reading this because you're worried about the way you are being treated by someone, Read more of this website to find out what courses of action are open to you.

What can I do if I'm being bullied?

  • Put your health before anything else
    • However strong your personality, no one is immune from mental health problems. Unexpressed anger and fear can lead to depression in "normal" people. If you're reading this in time, take evasive action before it gets that bad.
    • Be aware of and monitor your stress levels. Try not to allow your stress to get so serious that you become bogged down with it, mindful that it is difficult to recognise the extent of the problem yourself. Ask family, friends and doctor to help as appropriate
    • Avoid having one-to-one meetings with the bully if you have already complained about the bullying
  • Document everything
    • Maintain contemporaneous notes of what you said and did, and what others said and did
    • Keep memos, emails and other documents that are evidential of bullying
    • Especially if you get bullied in private, consider using a pocket voice recorder (smartphone) to obtain a verbatim transcript.
  • Think and operate strategically
    • Remember there are things in life you can control, things you can influence, and things you cannot do anything about. Ultimately, the only thing you can control is you. Attempting to persuade your employer to act responsibly can be pointless and thus painful, but it is in your interests to try not to fret about it if it does not work. Focus your attention on what you can do and are doing.
    • There is a risk that any mistakes you make as a result of being bullied, any sickness absence, and any illness will be used by a bully to discredit you. Most of what a bully throws at you is designed to provoke a response that can be used against you.
    • Understand this and avoid responding directly to such provocations;
    • Always act reasonably and in doing so, a contrast will emerge between your behaviour and the bully's;
    • Accept that this probably is not enough to make it stop;
    • Remember that there is more to you than your job, and try not to take it too seriously;
    • Remember that once you decide to resist the bullying, you may be in for the "long haul";
  • Seek but do not depend on support from other managers or trade union.
    • If they give tell-tale signs that they do not believe you or do not support you, do not keep hoping that they will support you.
    • Seek independent support from neutral third parties.
    • Get some help, but think about the interests and personal agendas of the people you hope to trust;
    • Consider who is or might be facilitating the bullying, and avoid confiding in them.
  • Equip yourself with your employer's policies and procedures, and make sure that YOU follow them, and encourage others to do the same;
    • Be 100% fair and reasonable, even when standing your ground;
    • Always maintain your dignity and be polite, even in the face of rudeness;
    • If you can, have a trusted companion with you as a witness in any meeting to discuss bullying. If you don't have a companion you can trust, make sure you have an audio recorder;
    • Remember that everything you write, say and do might one day be discussed in a court or tribunal, so make sure your actions are beyond reproach and justifiable. Don't do or say anything that you would not wish to repeat in public;

Notes of formal and semi formal meetings often contain omissions or note-takers' conflicting perceptions of what was said, leading to disputes over the accuracy of the minutes. Eliminate the possibility of such disputes by making audio recordings of meetings about the bullying, even if there is a note taker present. You do not need permission to make accurate notes, and it is very telling when someone who hopes to create a record of the meeting they want, rather than the meeting they had, objects to you making an audio recording. If there are objections, record the meeting one way or another.

Keep any recordings and notes strictly confidential and use them only for legitimate purposes. A covert recording of a confidential meeting could be perceived by an employer as a breach of trust, leading to disciplinary action A court or tribunal might only consider covert recording as legitimate conduct where the recording discloses a more significant breach of trust by someone else.

  • If you have tried the above and it is not working out, seriously consider changing jobs.
    • Even though it is unfair that you should have to leave, it is better to do so on your terms, when you choose, with your mental health, disciplinary record and sickness absence record intact, than to stick it out, battling an insuperable force, and being dismissed on some specious misconduct charge after exhausting your entitlement to paid sick leave, suffering from depression.
    • If you are considering leaving, consider your legal options as well - you may have recourse through the legal system but remember to put your health and wellbeing before any other consideration.

What can you do if one of your employees is accused of bullying?

  • Do not ignore it
  • It is possible for a complaint to be faked, or for a complainant to be mistaken. It is also possible that they may be right. Therefore, do not presume anything and do not make decisions based on rumours.
  • Be aware of the modus operandi of bullies and their special talents for flattery and for acquiring a following.
  • In a dispute over bullying, the bully is likely to be the one with the most witnesses until enough people decide that it is safe to speak out.
  • Do not try to understand what drives the bully's behaviour. Concentrate on their actions rather than psychological causes.
  • Get support. Use HR professionals and occupational psychologists. Use external specialists if your environment might restrict the freedom of an internal partner to objectively assess the situation
  • Be prepared to dismiss an employee that bullies others. The more influence they have over your results, the more they should behave well. If you tolerate bad behaviour among people who drive your bottom line, you will give the message "We want the results and we don't care what you do to achieve them". This is the worst message you could give when you remember that bullying at work destroys teams, collaboration and willingness to contribute; it increases staff turnover and puts your business at risk of lawsuits, as well as indicating a high potential for fraud and corruption.
  • Leave no doubt in your employees' minds that it is always safe to speak out.
  • The fact of the complaint discloses something serious, so aim to get to the bottom of it as promptly as possible
  • Listen very carefully to the complainant
  • Establish whether the incidents complained of actually occurred
  • If you do not believe the complainant, get some help from an expert
  • Put your employees' health before anything else
  • Think about the interests and agendas of the people who give you evidence
  • Follow policies and procedures
  • Be 100% fair and reasonable
  • If bullying is occurring, do not make excuses for it - it will happen again and be worse next time.

 "More information on identifying and overcoming bullying and its effects on health is in Tim Field's book Bully in sight: how to predict, resist, challenge and combat workplace bullying"



Elyssa D. Durant © DailyDDoSe™ 2007-2008

Bullying: Why Me?

On other pages:

Updated by Tim Field Foundation

Different types of workplace bullying
The difference between bullying and harassment
What Is Bullying?

Why Me?

There are many reasons how and why bullies target others, and the reasons are consistent between different cases. There are many euphamisms used to describe bullying (e.g. firm management") and myths used to justify it (e.g. "victims are weak"). None of these are true. Bullying often repeats because bullies target their victims for the same reasons each time. This page may answer the question, "Why do I keep getting bullied?".

Why do people get bullied?

Bullies can act because they are jealous of their target's status, talents, abilities, circumstances or possessions. Bullies act without integrity, and despise people who display it. Sometimes they act with no reason other than for the kick they get from realising that something they have done has provoked a reaction in their target. Making people annoyed can be a cheap source of gratification and amusement. But bullies with jobs fear exposure of their perceived shortcomings, such as inadequacy and incompetence, and these people bully not for fun but in order - they think - to survive. Competent colleagues fuel the bully's fear that shortcomings in their capabilities will surface, so they tend to select targets who fulfil some of the criteria below.

  • Being in the wrong place at the wrong time
    • Bullies are predatory and opportunistic. Irrespective of any other explanation, being in the wrong place at the wrong moment is the main reason.
  • Being competent:-
    • being good at their job, often excelling;
    • being willing to go that extra mile and expect others to do the same;
    • being successful, tenacious, determined, courageous, having fortitude;
    • being imaginative, creative, innovative;
    • being able to master new skills;
    • thinking long term and seeing the bigger picture;
    • being helpful, always willing to share knowledge and experience;
    • being diligent and industrious;
  • Being Popular:-
    • with colleagues, customers, clients, pupils, parents, patients, etc;
    • Being regarded as an expert and the person to whom others come for advice, either personal or professional;
    • having a sense of humour, including displays of quick-wittedness
  • Having strength of character:-
    • displaying integrity, honesty, intelligence and intellect;
    • having a well-defined set of values that they are unwilling to compromise;
    • being trustworthy, trusting, conscientious, loyal and dependable;
    • a sense of fairness: willingness to tackle injustice;
    • low propensity to violence and strong forgiving streak
    • refusing to join an established clique;
    • being sensitive (having empathy, concern for others, respect, tolerance etc)
    • being slow to anger
    • showing independence of thought or deed;
    • refusing to become a corporate clone and drone;
    • having high coping skills under stress, especially when the injury to health becomes apparent
  • Having a vulnerability:-
    • The need to earn a living from work;
    • being proud of one's reputation and record;
    • being too old or too expensive;
    • finding it difficult to say no;
    • low assertiveness and a need to feel valued;
    • believing everyone is on the same team and working toward the same goals;
    • being too tolerant;
    • being a perfectionist;
    • low propensity to violence and strong forgiving streak;
    • a tendency to self-deprecation, indecisiveness, deference and approval seeking;
    • high expectations of those in authority and a distaste for those who abuse their power;
    • quick to apologise when accused, even if not guilty
  • Having raised concerns
    • ... about bullying, fraud, safety or any matter where the bully feels implicated or at risk as a result.

Revenge

This list of characteristics apply to "innocent" targets. However, some people respond to bullying with bullying. Sometimes they target their bully, sometimes they pass it down the line to a peer or subordinate. Some see this as a survival technique in an environment where bullying is rife, and it leads to widespread conflict. Revenge bullying does not require the target to have the sort of characteristics listed above, but any perceived weakness will do. Some would argue that bullying in revenge is justifiable, but in absolute terms it is no less unreasonable than the behaviour that provoked it. The perpetrator of revenge bullying loses any moral high ground they might have had at the outset, and ultimately they lose their right to criticise the conduct that they were originally subjected to.

Events / characteristics that trigger bullying

Bullying starts because of one of these things:

  • Structural Changes:-
    • the previous target leaves;
    • there's a reorganisation;
    • a new manager is appointed;
    • Economic forces make the bully's job more difficult than normal - a big order or a downturn;
  • Target's Popularity:-
    • The target's performance unwittingly highlights, draws attention to, exposes or invites unfavourable comparison with the bully's lack of performance
    • The target unwittingly becomes the focus of legitimate attention, making the bully jealous;
    • The target receives obvious displays of affection, respect or trust from co-workers;
    • gaining recognition for achievements, eg winning an award or being publicly recognised
    • gaining promotion
  • Target's Integrity:-
    • The target questions or refuses to obey an instruction that would require violation of law, rules, procedures etc
    • The target stands up for a co-worker who is already being bullied. This may result in instant suspension on specious grounds;
    • blowing the whistle on incompetence, malpractice, fraud, illegality, breaches of procedure, breaches of health & safety regulations etc. Again, this can lead to instant suspension on specious grounds;
    • undertaking trade union duties or performing other activities that are protected by law;
    • challenging the status quo, especially unwittingly;
  • Personal Characteristic of the Target:-
    • suffering illness or injury, whether work related or not
    • Being the wrong race, gender, gender orientation, religion, being disabled etc. While it is unlawful to bully someone for reasons related to such characteristics, a person could be bullied because they have ginger hair, blonde hair, too many spots, too few spots, are too tall, too short etc - in fact, for an infinite number of reasons.

A typical sequence of events is:

  • The target is selected using the criteria above, then bullied for months, perhaps years. Eventually, the target asserts their right not to be bullied, perhaps by filing a complaint with Human Resources.
  • It's one word against another with no witnesses and no evidence. Bullies readily lie and manipulate facts and people, so HR accepts the bully's word over the target's.
  • HR is further hoodwinked by the bully into getting rid of the target, often on concocted or false conduct or capability grounds that give bystanders the feeling that the dismissal is legitimate.(
    • (The HR manager might be a close ally of the bully, and proceeds without considering any moral or legal issues other than "is this going to come back and bite me?")
  • Once the target is gone, there's a period of between 2-14 days, then a new target is selected and the process starts again. This is because bullying is an obsessive/compulsive behaviour and serial bullies seem unable to survive without having someone onto whom they can project their inadequacies.
  • Even if the employer realises that they might have sided with the wrong person in the past, they are unlikely to admit it because of fear of legal liabilities. If the target begins legal proceedings, they often end with out-of-court settlements with confidentiality clauses.
  • Employers often promote serial bullies more readily than others, possibly because they are utterly beguiled by them, or perhaps as a form of appeasement because the manager is frightened of what the bully might do. Promotion after a bullying-related dispute is sometimes granted as if to compensate the bully for all the trouble they have been through.

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 edd, edm

Types of Bullying: Workplace Bullying



On other pages:

What is Bullying?
The difference between bullying and harassment
Why Me?

Types of Bullying

Tim Field identified several different types of bullying at workplaces:

Pressure Bullying

Unwitting or pressure bullying is where the stress of the moment causes behaviour to deteriorate; the person becomes short-tempered, irritable and may shout or swear at others. Everybody does this from time to time, but when the pressure is removed, behaviour returns to normal, the person recognises the inappropriateness of their behaviour, makes amends, and may apologise, and - crucially - learns from the experience so that next time the situation arises they are better able to deal with it. This is "normal" behaviour and I do not include pressure bullying in my definition of workplace bullying.

Organisational Bullying

A combination of pressure bullying and corporate bullying, and occurs when an organisation struggles to adapt to changing markets, reduced income, cuts in budgets, imposed expectations, and other external pressures.

Corporate Bullying

Corporate bullying is where an employer abuses employees with impunity especially where the law is weak and jobs are scarce, eg:

  • coercing employees to work 60/70/80 weeks on a regular basis then making life hell for (or dismissing) anyone who objects
  • dismissing anyone who looks like having a stress breakdown as an award of compensation for unfair dismissal is likely much lower than a personal injury award;
  • using "absence management" to deny employees annual or sick leave to which they are genuinely entitled;
  • snooping and spying on employees, eg by montoring telephone conversations, using the "mystery shopper", asking leading questions of customers behind employees' backs, conducting covert video surveillance, using personnel officers or private investigators to observe employees who are on sick leave etc;
  • regarding employees suffering from stress as "weak" and "inadequate", but actively ignoring and denying work-based causes of the stress - e.g. poor management and bullying;
  • encouraging employees to fabricate complaints about colleagues;
  • encouraging employees to give up permanent roles in favour of short-term contracts; anyone who resists has their life made hell

Institutional Bullying

Institutional bullying is similar to corporate bullying and arises when bullying becomes entrenched and accepted as part of the culture. People are moved, Permanent roles are replaced by short-term contracts on less favourable terms with little alternative but to accept; workloads increase, schedules change, roles change, career progression paths are blocked or terminated, etc, all without consultation.

Client Bullying

Client bullying is where employees are bullied by those they serve, eg teachers are bullied (and often assaulted) by pupils and their parents, nurses are bullied by patients and their relatives, social workers are bullied by their clients, and shop/bank/building society staff are bullied by customers. Often the client is claiming their perceived right (eg to better service) in an abusive, derogatory and often physically violent manner. This can happen in reverse, where nurses bully patients, teachers bully pupils and so on.

Serial Bullying

Serial bullying is where the source of all dysfunction can be traced to one individual, who picks on one employee after another and destroys them. This is the most common type of bullying Tim Field came across, and he put a great deal of time into studying the Serial Bully. He considered the serial bully to exhibit the behavioural characteristics of a socialised psychopath.

Secondary Bullying

Secondary bullying is mostly unwitting conduct that people start to exhibit when there's a serial bully in the department. The pressure of trying to deal with a dysfunctional, divisive and aggressive serial bully causes everyone's behaviour to decline.

Pair Bullying

Pair bullying is a serial bully with a colleague. Often one does the talking whilst the other watches and listens. Usually it's the quiet one you need to watch. Usually they are of opposite gender and frequently there's an affair going on.

Gang Bullying (a.k.a. "Mobbing")

Gang bullying is a serial bully with colleagues. Gangs can occur anywhere, but flourish in corporate bullying climates.

  • If the bully is an extrovert (a shouter and screamer) they are likely to be leading from the front, and should be easily recognisable.
  • If the bully is an introvert, he or she may be in the background initiating the mayhem but not taking an active part, and may thus be harder to identify. A common tactic of this type of bully is to tell everybody a different story - usually about what others are alleged to have said about that person - and encourage each person to think they are the only one with the correct story. Introvert bullies are very dangerous.
  • Half the people in the gang are happy for the opportunity to behave badly, gaining gratification from the feeling of power and control, and they enjoy the patronage, protection and reward from the serial bully. The other half of the gang are coerced into joining in, usually through fear of being the next target if they don't. If anything backfires, one of these coercees will be the scapegoat and sacrificial lamb on whom enraged targets will be encouraged to vent their anger. The serial bully watches from a safe distance. Serial bullies gain a great deal of gratification from encouraging and watching others engage in conflict, especially those who might otherwise pool negative information about them.
  • Gang bullying or group bullying is often called mobbing and usually involves scapegoating and victimisation.

Vicarious Bullying

Vicarious bullying is where two parties are encouraged to engage in adversarial interaction or conflict. It is similar to mobbing, but the bully may or may not be directly connected with either of the two parties. One party becomes an instrument of the bully's harassment, and is deceived and manipulated into bullying the other party. An example of vicarious bullying is where the serial bully creates conflict between employer and employee, participating occasionally to stoke the conflict, but rarely taking an active part in the conflict themselves.

Regulation Bullying

Regulation bullying is where a serial bully forces their target to comply with rules, regulations, procedures or laws regardless of their appropriateness, applicability or necessity. Legal bullying - the bringing of a vexatious legal action to control and punish a person - is one of the nastiest forms of bullying.

Residual Bullying

Residual bullying is the bullying of all kinds that continues after the serial bully has left. Like recruits like and like promotes like, therefore the serial bully bequeaths a dysfunctional environment to those who are left. This can last for years.

Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying is the misuse of communication technology (email, SMS texts, social networks, Internet forums etc) for conducting campaigns of hatred. The impersonality and distance between bully and target makes such technology an effective means to cause conflict and hurt. Cyber bullying can be "private" in the sense that the target receives text messages, or "public", where the target is defamed and subject to specious or sarcastic allegations of unsavoury actions, conduct or personality traits etc, in front of a wide audience. One way that a cyber bully tries to provoke a reaction from his or her target is to use email, and to visibly copy as many people as possible, possibly in the hope that others will join in, but in any case having the effect of letting the target see that the bully's message is widely visible. Social networking websites are another medium where the bully can show off to a wide audience.

Hierarchical Bullying, Peer Bullying, Upward Bullying

The majority of cases of workplace bullying reported to Tim Field's UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line involved an individual being bullied by their manager, accounting for around 75% of cases. Around a quarter of cases involved bullying and harassment by peers (often with the collusion of a manager either by proactive involvement or by the manager refusing to take action). Only 2% of cases involved the bullying of a manager by a subordinate.

Reactive Bullying or Revenge

This website deals primarily with the phenomenon of people being bullied simply because they are there, or because they possess positive characteristics. For the sake of completeness however, it is necessary to mention that reacting to bullying in a manner that is not reasonable can also constitute bullying.

Bullying behaviours can be learned from one person and can disseminate through an organisation, to the point that everyone is bullying everyone else. If a person responds to bullying with bullying, as opposed to a reasonable and assertive response, they can lose the moral high ground and the right to criticise the behaviour to which they were subjected. A person who is sexually flirtatious with colleagues does not put him or herself in a position to complain if one of their colleagues then flirts with them. Someone who responds to name-calling with name-calling, and then complains about it will implicitly criticise their own conduct when they make their complaint.




 edd, edm

Most people only realize they're being bullied when they read this page; what is bullying, how to recognise bullies and injury to health

On other pages

Different types of workplace bullying
What is bullying?
Why Me?

The difference between bullying and harassment

Updated by Tim Field Foundation

Acts of harassment usually centre around unwanted, offensive and intrusive behaviour with a sexual, racial or physical component. In the UK, harassment on specific grounds is outlawed by virtue of the Equality Act 2010. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and the Protection from Harassment Act (1997) have also influenced attitudes towards harassment. Significantly, the Protection from Harassment Act emphasises the target's perception of the conduct in question, rather than the perpetrator's intent.

The Equality Act offers a legal right to be treated no less favourably or harassed, for a reason related to personal characteristics identified in the Act, such as race, gender or disability. These are called "protected characteristics". Other Employment Rights legislation bestows rights on people who have carried out "protected acts" such as reporting malpractice, health and safety related activities and so on. However, there is no direct statutory protection for a UK based worker who finds themselves treated less favourably than others for some reason not related to a protected characteristic and not on the ground that they have performed a protected act. The title "The Protection from Harassment Act" suggests that it would be the most appropriate way to deal with bullying at work, but it was designed to deal with stalkers and not incompetent managers criticising a subordinate in a work environment.

Definitions of harassment and bullying vary and there is much overlap. The essential differences between harassment and workplace bullying are as follows:

Differences between harassment and workplace bullying

Harassment Workplace Bullying
Has a strong physical component, eg contact and touch in all its forms, intrusion into personal space and possessions, damage to possessions including a person's work, etc. Almost exclusively psychological or organisational, but may become physical especially if the bully is male.
Tends to be motivated by an outward personal characteristic of the target, such as gender, race, disability etc. Tends to be motivated by a hidden personal characteristic of the target, such as competence, popularity or integrity.
A course of conduct constituting harassment can consist of just two incidents. Bullying tends to be an accumulation of many small incidents, each of which, when taken in isolation and out of context, seems trivial.
The person who is being harassed knows almost straight away they are being harassed. The person being bullied may not realise it for weeks or months, until there's a moment of enlightenment.
Everyone can recognise harassment. Few people recognise bullying.
Harassment may involve racist, sexist or other discriminatory vocabulary and actions directed at the target. Workplace bullying tends to consist of unwarranted criticisms and false allegations, often disguised as management and without openly discriminatory terms. Foul language may be used when there are no witnesses.
Harassment can be for peer approval, bravado, macho image etc. Tends to be secret behind closed doors with no witnesses.
Acts of harassment at work are obviously not part of work-related communications (e.g. taunting, stalking, vandalising property etc). Acts of bullying are hard to distinguish from work related communications (e.g. making unreasonable demands, making unwarranted criticisms of performance, taking credit for others' work etc).
The harasser may be content for their target to know they are being harassed. The bully does not want their target to know they are being bullied.
Harassment is done for the sake of dominating the target. Bullying is done for the sake of making the bully look more competent than the target.
It is immediately obvious when there has been an act of harassment. Bullying can be very subtle, so it will not be immediately obvious that there has been an act of bullying.


 edd, edm

Most people only realize they're being bullied when they read this page; what is bullying, how to recognise bullies and injury to health

What Is Bullying?

Updated by Tim Field Foundation

"...A major barrier to organizational efficiency and productivity and a major cost to organizations and to economies as a whole." - Clive R Boddy

On this page:

Definitions of bullying:
What's the difference between bullying, harassment and assault?
Where are people bullied?
What is Workplace Bullying?
How does it happen in a civilised environment?
Who is behind workplace bullying?
What triggers bullying?
What does bullying do to health?
What happens when someone complains about bullying?
What a bully might say when held to account
Am I Being Bullied?
What can I do if I'm being bullied?
What can you do if one of your employees is accused of bullying?

On other pages:

Different types of workplace bullying
The difference between bullying and harassment
Why Me?

Definitions of bullying:

Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating or insulting behaviour, abuse of power, or unfair punishment which upsets, threatens and/or humiliates the recipient(s), undermining their self-confidence, reputation and ability to perform. Derived from "Bullying at work: how to tackle it. A guide for MSF representatives and members: MSF 1995

When considering the reasonableness of the conduct in question, the perpetrator can be expected to give an innocent reason for their actions. However, their claimed intention does not define the reasonableness of their conduct: The prime consideration must be the effect of the conduct on the recipient.

Context is everything. The persistence, the pattern and the effect of incidents which are, in isolation, trivial, creates the context in which those incidents can be regarded as bullying. Examples of the sort of incidents and the patterns are given below.

Workplace bullying is commonly sustained by denial, ignorance and indifference, often in a climate of fear, with a common result being the premature departure of the target and reward for the perpetrator. Tim Field

Making a complaint or holding someone to account for substandard conduct, so long as it is done fairly and reasonably in good faith, is not bullying.

Others have given differently worded definitions, which essentially mean the same thing:

Rayner and Hoel provide five categories of bullying behaviour. These are threat to professional status (for example, belittling opinion, public professional humiliation, accusation of lack of effort); threat to personal standing (for example, name calling, insults, teasing); isolation (for example, preventing access to opportunities such as training, withholding information); overwork (for example, undue pressure to produce work, impossible deadlines, unnecessary disruptions); and destabilisation (for example, failure to give credit when due, meaningless tasks, removal of responsibility, shifting of goal posts).

Source: Workplace bullying in NHS community trust: staff questionnaire surveyLyn Quine, reader in health psychology
Workplace bullying is defined as the repeated unethical and unfavorable treatment of one person by another in the workplace. This includes behavior designed to belittle others via humiliation, sarcasm, rudeness, overworking an employee, threats, and violence. Constance Dierickx, Ph.D

What's the difference between bullying, harassment and assault?

Bullying differs from harassment and assault in that the latter can result from a small number of fairly serious incidents - which everybody recognises as harassment or assault - whereas bullying tends to be an accumulation of many small incidents over a long period of time. Each incident tends to be trivial, and on its own and out of context does not constitute an offence or grounds for disciplinary or grievance action.

Where are people bullied?

  • in long term jobs, by managers, co-workers or subordinates, or by clients (bullying, workplace bullying, mobbing, work abuse, harassment, discrimination)
  • in short term jobs such as the performing arts, agriculture or construction, where the engager, gangmaster or supervisor has complete power over workers.(bullying, harassment, discrimination, assault)
  • in the armed forces, religious organisations and the media by "untouchable" characters (bullying, harassment, discrimination, assault, rape)
  • at home by partner, parent, uncle, sibling (bullying, assault, domestic violence, abuse, verbal abuse, rape)
  • at home by landlords, their agents, debt collectors (bullying, harassment)
  • at home by neighbours (bullying, harassment)
  • at school (bullying, harassment, assault)
  • in hospitals, convalescent homes, care homes, residential homes (bullying, harassment, assault)
  • in public by strangers (harassment, stalking, assault, sexual assault, rape, grievous bodily harm, murder)

This is not an exhaustive list and does not include activities readily identifiable as criminal.

What is Workplace Bullying?

The purpose of bullying is to hide inadequacy. It has nothing to do with managing: Management is managing; bullying is not managing. Anyone who chooses to bully implicitly admits their inadequacy.

Some people project their inadequacy onto others:

  • to avoid facing up to and doing something about it;
  • to avoid accepting responsibility for their behaviour and the effect it has; and
  • to dilute their fear of being seen as weak, inadequate and possibly incompetent; and
  • to divert attention away from the same: In badly run workplaces, bullying is the way that inadequate, incompetent and aggressive employees keep their jobs and obtain promotion.

Bullying destroys teams, causing disenchantment, demoralisation, demotivation, disaffection, and alienation. Bullies run dysfunctional and inefficient organisations; staff turnover and sickness absence are high whilst morale, productivity and profitability are low. Any perceived efficiency gains from bullying are a short term illusion: Long term prospects are always at serious risk.

Bullying behaviours are behind all forms of harassment, discrimination, prejudice, abuse, persecution, terrorism, conflict and violence. Understanding bullying gives a person the opportunity to understand that which underpins almost all forms of reprehensible behavior. Because of that, bullying remains the single most important social issue of today.

Workplace Bullying tends to happen in phases that can be called (1) Isolation, (2) Control and Subjugation and (3) Elimination. The terminology in the examples applies to workplaces but has parallels in other situations. Examples are loosely categorised under the "Phase" headings but in reality any of the example behaviours can occur in any phase.

Isolation

  • constant nit-picking, fault-finding and criticism of a trivial nature - the triviality, regularity and frequency betray bullying; often there is a grain of truth (but only a grain) in the criticism to fool the people (including the target) into believing the criticism has validity, which it does not; often, the criticism is based on distortion, misrepresentation or fabrication.
  • simultaneous with the criticism, a persistent refusal to acknowledge the target and his or her contributions and achievements or to recognise their existence and value;
  • constant attempts to undermine the target and his or her position, status, worth, value and potential where the target is in a group (eg at work),
  • being isolated and separated from colleagues, excluded from what's going on, marginalized, overruled, ignored, sidelined, frozen out, "sent to Coventry"
  • The above can be done with or without the cover of a formal disciplinary or capability procedure.


Control and Subjugation

  • being singled out and treated differently; for instance, everyone else can get away with murder but the moment the target puts a foot wrong - however trivial - action is taken against them;
  • being belittled, demeaned and patronised, especially in front of others;
  • being humiliated, shouted at and threatened, often in front of others being overloaded with work, or having all their work taken away and replaced with either menial tasks (filing, photocopying, minute taking) or with no work at all finding that their work, and the credit for it, is stolen and plagiarised;
  • having responsibility increased but authority removed;
  • having annual leave, sickness leave, and (especially) compassionate leave refused
  • being denied training necessary to fulfill duties
  • having unrealistic goals set, which change as they approach, also deadlines change at short notice, or no notice, and the target only finds out when its too late to do anything about it.
  • being the subject of gossip which has the effect of damaging one's reputation.

Elimination

  • the target finds that everything they say and do is twisted, distorted and misrepresented;
  • is subjected to disciplinary procedures with verbal or written warnings imposed for trivial or fabricated reasons and without proper investigation, or with a sham investigation;
  • is coerced into leaving through no fault of their own, constructive dismissal, early or ill-health retirement, etc
  • is dismissed following specious allegations of misconduct or incapability which have just a grain of truth, to give superficial legitimacy to the dismissal.

One way to conceal bullying is to have regular or even continuous "reorganisations", where:-

  • targets can be "organized out" - this applies to anyone whose face doesn't fit, i.e. anyone who has identified, complained about or challenged problems with the status quo;
  • they can have their roles "regraded" or "redefined", if not being organised out.
  • The bully's allies and political pawns can be promoted to positions of influence.

Where a re-organisation seems pointless or counter-productive, or if it involves a disproportionate amount of disruption in relation to the perceived benefit of the change, it could be a smokescreen to conceal (and be a vehicle of) bullying. People are so busy coping with the chaos that bullying goes unnoticed. At the same time, the person responsible can claim to be reorganising in the name of efficiency, thus earning him or her the respect of superiors.

Business stakeholders should note that bullying, and these forms of concealment, may be distracting attention from financial fraud, corruption, misappropriation of funds and so on.

How does it happen in a civilised environment?

Bullying happens under the noses of those who should care enough to stop it but who don't, either because they simply cannot believe it could happen, or because they fear of the consequences (for them) of doing something about it. Thus, targets of bullying and abuse are often not believed when they do report it.

People who bully in adult life tend to be drawn to positions offering them ostensibly legitimate power of some sort, such as jobs that come with administrative or organisational authority over others. It is possible for a sufficiently dishonest person to abuse a position of trust to conceal negligence, incompetence, fraud and more, without ever being held accountable. Subjugation and control by guilt and by threats of worse to come allows abusers to take what they want, and to minimise the risk of being reported, or of such reports being believed by, appropriate authorities. 

It helps if the bully's superiors and peers are also bullies, or if they are so naive that bullying by this person is literally unthinkable, or they're scared of the consequences of crossing the bully. Whatever the underlying reasons, the legitimate authority that comes with a job works to protect bullies from comeback, because their peers and subordinates, HR & legal departments and other bystanders, more often than not, blindly respect the legitimacy of the "master-servant" relationship. Where there are two contrasting accounts of a situation, the default position is to respect the "master's" opinion. Thus, the perpetrator is often given support while the target is shut out and eventually forced to leave, usually under a cloud, freeing the perpetrator to attend to their next target.

There is little to differentiate this cycle of abuse from the situation of child-abusing priests, where children were too frightened to complain, or were not believed, and where the priests were allowed to continue to destroy the lives of children in their "care". The worst that happened to those who were identified as abusers was a move to a different location.

Following the death in 2011 of UK TV and radio presenter Jimmy Savile, stories of abuse by started to emerge from hundreds of adults, claiming to have been abused by Savile as children. Much of Savile's career involved working with children and young people, including visiting schools and hospital wards. He spent 20 years presenting BBC's Top of the Pops before a teenage audience, and another 20 years presenting "Jim'll Fix It", in which he helped the wishes of viewers, mainly children, come true. He was renowned for his charitable work. In October 2012, when the police were pursuing 400 separate lines of inquiry relating to Savile, John Cameron of the NSPCC said Savile was "a well-organised prolific sex offender, who's used his power, his authority, his influence to procure children and offend against them."  The Savile situation demonstrated the propensity among victims of abuse by a popular figure to remain silent, probably because, among other things, of a fear of not being believed. That fear may well be justified: There were police inquiries while Savile was alive, but none led to any charges being brought, because there was "insufficient evidence".

Subordinates bully their bosses too. The power or "advantage" which a bully uses is not restricted to that which comes with position. Power can exist in many forms, including the potential to destroy the boss's reputation with false or unfair accusations, or a threat that someone could make an excessive fuss if they don't get their way, or it could take on the form of spreading malicious rumours, saying things that would never be said to the target's face. In summary, a bully needs to have some form of advantage over the target, and that advantage can take on many forms.

Tim Field wrote that in environments where bullying prevails, most people will eventually either become bullies or targets. There are few bystanders, as most people will eventually be sucked in. It's about survival: people either adopt bullying tactics themselves and thus survive by not becoming a target, or they stand up against bullying and refuse to join in, in which case they are at risk of being bullied, harassed, victimized and scapegoated until they have to resign, and/or their health is so severely impaired that they have a stress breakdown, take ill-health retirement or are dismissed on capability grounds, or otherwise find themselves unexpectedly selected for redundancy, or being dismissed on grounds of misconduct.

Who is behind workplace bullying?

Most workplace bullying is traceable to a person with several of these traits, some of which might only be evident to those who are being or have been bullied themselves:

Charismatic

  • May occupy a role that is important in some way;
  • Very self-assured;
  • May be believed to be doing or to have done something selfless or of great value, eg charitable work or turning a failing department or business around;
  • May give off an impression of trustworthiness and reliability.
  • Has an air of untouchability: questioning this person's actions or decisions is taboo especially among peers and superiors.

Deceptive

  • compulsive liar: spontaneously makes things up to fit the needs of the moment; routinely embellishes stories for effect;
  • convinces superiors and peers by seeming plausible and convincing, sometimes by copying others' behaviour, words or work;
  • portrays him or herself as kind, caring and compassionate but only behaves this way where it leads to personal gain;
  • doesn't listen, can't sustain a meaningful conversation;
  • hollow, superficial and glib;
  • seems to have an overbearing belief in his or her qualities (especially as a leader or manager);
  • apparently cannot distinguish between leadership, management and bullying;
    • i.e. cannot distinguish between maturity and immaturity, decisiveness and impulsiveness, assertiveness and aggression, personal objectives and corporate objectives, eloquence and crassness; honesty and deceitfulness;
  • is oblivious to the difference between how he or she would like to be seen, and how he or she is seen.

Manipulative

  • is drawn to positions of power;
  • wants to control everything;
  • has a subjective sense of right and wrong.
    • "Right" is whatever he or she can get away with, such as falsifying time sheets to inflate income;
    • "Wrong" could be anything done by others, justifying the bully's punishment, threats, control etc, such as refusing to falsify time sheets for the bully or, indeed, falsifying them under duress;
  • projects his or her own shortcomings onto others;
  • distorts peoples' perceptions of reality through falsehood and gossip;
  • rewrites history to paint a better picture of him or herself and/or a worse picture of someone else;
  • Tells different people different things, causing confusion, disruption, division and conflict;
  • is selectively (un)friendly and (un)cooperative:-
    • is mean, officious and inappropriately inflexible with some people; but is generous, relaxed and very accommodating with others;
    • may motivate allies with the prospect of reward; but motivates most people with fear and guilt.
  • threatens dire consequences for people under his or her influence, who think or act for themselves. Threats could be made directly in private, or indirectly in front of witnesses;
  • warns targets that no-one will believe them if they report the bullying;
  • once called to account:-
    • aggressively denies and refutes any criticism, counter-attacking the critic with fabricated or distorted counter-criticism;
    • claims to have been bullied by the complainant, feigns victimhood, ("poor me"), uses amateur dramatics (bursting into tears etc), to avoid the question and evade accountability,
    • makes others feel guilty for daring to suggest that he or she might have done the slightest thing wrong;

Jekyll & Hyde nature

  • can be innocent and charming some of the time (typically in the presence of witnesses), but vicious and vindictive at other times (typically where there are no witnesses).

Ruthless and unpleasant

  • lacks a conscience, shows no remorse;
  • has a compulsive need to criticise;
  • is often devious, manipulative, spiteful, vengeful;
  • becomes impatient, irritable and aggressive if asked to address the needs and concerns of others;
  • may be emotionally cold, humourless, joyless;
  • may exhibit inappropriate or unusual attitudes to sex, gender, race, disability and other personal characteristics.

Tim Field estimated that one person in thirty has several of these traits, describing them as aggressive but intelligent individuals who express their aggression psychologically (constant criticism etc) rather than physically (assault).

(More information on the Serial Bully)

What triggers bullying?

Where a person displays some of the above traits, bullying can start simply because the target is there, and does nothing at all to provoke it. Bullying may be unwittingly provoked because the target is competent, popular, successful, has integrity or otherwise characteristics that the bully perceives as a threat to their own status, fearing that the target will - inadvertently or deliberately - expose some negative aspect of their activity. Bullying is a common response to raising concerns about malpractice (eg fraud, health and safety breaches and bullying), sometimes called "whistle-blowing". Where a bully wants an employee dismissed, but there is no legally fair reason, a bully-tolerant employer will apply conduct and capability procedures, inappropriately and unfairly, to superficially justify the employee's elimination from the organisation and thus reduce the prospect of being sued for unfair dismissal. Used in that way, such procedures are themselves vehicles of bullying by the person(s) conducting them.

What does bullying do to health?

Bullying can cause injury to health and make people ill, with some or all of the symptoms below. Many, if not all of these symptoms are consequences of the high levels of stress and anxiety that bullying creates:

  • shattered self-confidence, low self-worth, low self-esteem, loss of self-love, etc
  • reactive depression, a feeling of woebegoneness, lethargy, hopelessness, anger, futility and more
  • hypersensitivity, fragility, isolation, withdrawal
  • obsession, not being able to stop thinking about the experience in all its detail
  • hypervigilance (feels like but is not paranoia), being constantly on edge
  • uncharacteristic irritability and angry outbursts
  • tearfulness, bursting into tears regularly and over trivial things
  • sweating, trembling, shaking, palpitations, panic attacks
  • bad or intermittently-functioning memory, forgetfulness, especially with trivial day-to-day things
  • poor concentration, can't concentrate on anything for long
  • skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis, athlete's foot, ulcers, shingles, urticaria
  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • flashbacks and replays, obsessiveness, can't get the bullying out of your mind
  • tiredness, exhaustion, constant fatigue sleeplessness, nightmares, waking early, waking up more tired than when you went to bed
  • headaches and migraines
  • aches and pains in the joints and muscles with no obvious cause; also
  • back pain with no obvious cause and which won't go away or respond to treatment
  • frequent illness such as viral infections especially flu and glandular fever, colds, coughs, chest, ear, nose and throat infections (stress plays havoc with the immune system.)

For the full set of symptoms of injury to health caused by prolonged negative stress (such as that caused by bullying, harassment, abuse etc) click here. For details of the trauma that can result, click here.

What happens when someone complains about bullying?

Given the character traits of a typical workplace bully, they can give very plausible accounts of what has happened so, when the target makes a formal complaint, and if the employer takes any notice, they are often convinced by the bully, dismissing the target's account of things.

As mentioned above, if the bully is further up the hierarchy than the target, the bully's peers, HR & legal departments and other bystanders will often believe the bully by default, just because of the office they hold. (The actions they take next also constitute bullying).

For the target, the experience of being "swept under the carpet" in such circumstances can be equally or more traumatic than the original bullying, and where the employer is determined not to acknowledge the problem, it can lead to prolonged absence that ends with resignation, ill-health retirement or dismissal of the target on specious grounds of conduct or capability, as well as legal proceedings.

Where there have been previous similar complaints about a person's conduct, and where those complaints have been followed by illness and/or untimely departures of the persons making the complaint, one might imagine that any HR officer it would spot the similarities, think "enough is enough", and do something about it. However, the HR officer might be beguiled by or terrified of or dependent upon or be the bully, and find it easier to dispose of new complaints in the same way as before.

Where a business opts to protect a bully, the business takes on the task, costs and liabilities associated with resisting and eliminating the target, freeing the bully to focus attention on the next target.

What a bully might say when held to account

This is a real-life text book example of a bully's response to accusations of bullying, when his game was almost up. In May 2013, former TV presenter Stuart Hall pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent assault involving 13 victims, over a period of 18 years. Four months earlier, however, Hall spoke to reporters after his initial appearance in court. Hall's words are in italics, with our understanding of what he meant in brackets:

  • "May I just say these allegations are pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious.
    • (TFF inference: "I project the key qualities of my sexual deviancy - perniciousness, callousness, cruelty and spuriousness - onto my victims' allegations.")
  • "And may I just say I am not guilty and will be defending these accusations.
    • ("I am prepared to waste taxpayers' resources and commit perjury")
  • "Like a lot of other people in this country today I am wondering why it has taken 30 or 40 years for these allegations to surface.
    • ("I want you to doubt the credibility of my victims")
    • NOTE that Hall inadvertently gave a bit of the game away by using the word "surface", implying that he knew there was substance to the allegations and that it had thus far been hidden beneath the proverbial surface.
  • "The last two months of my life have been a living nightmare. I have never gone through so much stress in my life and I am finding it difficult to sustain.
    • ("Poor me. Please share the contempt I have for my victims, by focusing on the terrible harm they have done to me")
  • "Fortunately I have a very loving family and they are very supportive and I think but for their love I might have been constrained to take my own life.
    • ("I need you to associate me with the image of a loving family, which has also been harmed by my victims. Poor family, poor me. What a close shave I am having.")
  • "They have encouraged me to fight on, to fight the charges and regain my reputation and good name and whatever I have represented to this country down the years.
    • ("I have lied to everyone - those closest to me and the general public - for years. Even my family think I am innocent. Most people have always thought I was wonderful and I need that to continue. Who gives a damn about the children and young women I assaulted.")
  • "With that I would like to thank everybody who has supported me for their good will which has sustained me through this absolutely horrific ordeal.
    • ("In case I have not already made the point, my victims are audacious and horrible for coming forward. I genuinely hope that you feel sorry for me.")
  • "As I say I shall be defending myself. I am 83 years old. I was a healthy 83 year old, but I am now incubating a heart complaint and I'll be very lucky to survive another couple of years.
    • (In case you don't already feel sorry for me, feel sorry for me because I am frail and I've got a heart condition, and it's all my victims' fault. To help me get away with this, I need you to feel really, really sorry for me, and I need you and the general public to share the disdain and contempt I have for my victims.")
  • "But I hope to survive those two years and regain my honour and reputation and more than ever, my life."
    • ("My reputation and being untouchable are what let me get away with these crimes for so long. If I can just sustain those things I might reach the end of my life without being punished, like Jimmy Savile. To that end, I intend to continue fooling my family, my lawyers and the courts, you reporters and the whole world, into thinking that I must be innocent.")

Stuart Hall's comments to news reporters after his initial court appearance were just what you should expect a bully to say when they are being held to account. Their words are meant to make the listener feel sorry for the accused and contempt for the accuser. In Hall's case, they were intended to manipulate public opinion in his favour because, in his case, having a jovial reputation and the public on his side had been enough to deter his victims from reporting his crimes.

If you question an alleged bully, and the response is a "poor me" melodrama, punctuated with expressions of contempt and disdain for the accuser, it could well be an implicit admission of guilt.

Am I Being Bullied?

Some people are bullied for years without actually realising it, and others, who are not being bullied at all, claim that they are victims and seem to revel in the drama. (See the Stuart Hall example and "Who is Behind Workplace Bullying", above.)

Anyone thinking they might be being bullied needs to step back from the situation and be as objective as possible. This can be difficult for someone who is being psychologically manipulated. They can feel guilty about things that are not their fault. A person on the receiving end of abuse might have become convinced that it is futile or dangerous to make an accusation about someone who is in fact abusing them. Its a good idea for them to discuss it with a trusted friend or someone who is completely independent.

Before you accuse someone of bullying, make sure it is really happening. Think it possible that you may be mistaken. Rule out possible alternative explanations for your experience, such as:-

  • Some things that feel like bullying are not bullying: for example, if you know you have broken some disciplinary rule, you will know that your employer is allowed to use a fair disciplinary procedure to deal with that. If you have behaved badly yourself, then the way you're treated might be a reaction to that, but, unless you know you have behaved badly, talk about it to a friend before judging yourself.
  • If you don't like the way someone is treating you, have you made allowances for the way they are behaving? They might be having a bad day or week. People can lose their temper under pressure, and it might be a short term issue. They might be being bullied themselves. Has this happened before? Is there a pattern to their behaviour?
  • Does your unhappiness stem from this experience, or from something else?

People who are bullied find that they are:

  • Isolated
    • isolated and excluded from what's happening;
    • denied information or knowledge necessary for undertaking work and achieving objectives
    • starved of resources, sometimes whilst others often receive more than they need
    • denied support by their manager and thus find themselves working in a management vacuum
    • either overloaded with work (this keeps people busy [with no time to tackle bullying] and makes it harder to achieve targets) or have all their work taken away (which is sometimes replaced with inappropriate menial jobs, eg photocopying, filing, making coffee)
    • have their responsibility increased but their authority removed
    • overruled, ignored, sidelined, marginalised, ostracised
    • given "the silent treatment": the bully refuses to communicate and avoids eye contact (always an indicator of an abusive relationship); often instructions are received only via email, memos, or a succession of yellow stickies or post-it notes
  • Controlled and Subjugated
    • do not have a clear job description, or have one that is exceedingly long;
    • set unrealistic goals and deadlines which are unachievable or which are changed without notice or reason or whenever they get near achieving them
    • frequently or constantly criticised and subjected to unwarranted, destructive criticism;
    • encouraged to feel guilty, and to believe they're always the one at fault
      • when they defend themselves, their explanations and proof of achievements are ridiculed, overruled, dismissed or ignored;
    • frequently subject to nit-picking and trivial fault-finding. The triviality reveals an absence of any serious concern
    • subject to excessive monitoring, supervision, micro-management, recording, snooping etc
    • undermined, especially in front of others. Concerns are raised, or doubts expressed about a person's performance or standard of work, but the concerns lack substance and cannot be quantified, or are simply false;
    • threatened, shouted at and humiliated, especially in front of others
    • taunted and teased where the intention is to embarrass and humiliate
    • singled out and treated differently, e.g. being disciplined for arriving one minute late, when others stroll in late without penalty;
    • belittled, degraded, demeaned, ridiculed, patronised, subject to disparaging remarks
    • regularly the target of offensive language, personal remarks, or inappropriate bad language
    • have their work plagiarised, stolen and copied - the bully then presents their target's work (eg to senior management) as their own
    • the subject of written complaints by other members of staff (who have been coerced into fabricating allegations - the complaints are trivial, often bizarre ["He looked at me in a funny way"] and often bear striking similarity to each other, suggesting a common origin)
    • forced to work long hours, often without remuneration and under threat of dismissal
    • refused requests for leave, or unacceptable and unnecessary conditions are attached
    • denied annual leave, sickness leave, or - especially - compassionate leave
    • when on leave, are harassed by calls at home or on holiday, often at unsocial hours
    • receive unpleasant or threatening calls or are harassed with intimidating memos, notes or emails with no verbal communication, immediately prior to weekends and holidays (eg 4pm Friday or Christmas Eve - often these are hand-delivered)
  • Eliminated
    • are invited to "informal" meetings which turn out to be disciplinary hearings
    • facing unjustified disciplinary action on trivial or specious or false charges
    • subjected to unwarranted and unjustified verbal or written warnings
    • are denied representation at meetings, often under threat of further disciplinary action; sometimes the bully abuses their position of power to exclude any representative who is competent to deal with bullying
    • dismissed on fabricated charges or flimsy excuses, often using a trivial incident from months or years previously
    • coerced into reluctant resignation, enforced redundancy, early or ill-health retirement
    • denied the right to earn their livelihood including being prevented from getting another job, usually with a bad or misleading reference

If you're reading this because you think someone you know is being treated this way, send them a link to the page or print it and give it to them - it might be the best thing you ever do for them. If you're reading this because you're worried about the way you are being treated by someone, Read more of this website to find out what courses of action are open to you.

What can I do if I'm being bullied?

  • Put your health before anything else
    • However strong your personality, no one is immune from mental health problems. Unexpressed anger and fear can lead to depression in "normal" people. If you're reading this in time, take evasive action before it gets that bad.
    • Be aware of and monitor your stress levels. Try not to allow your stress to get so serious that you become bogged down with it, mindful that it is difficult to recognise the extent of the problem yourself. Ask family, friends and doctor to help as appropriate
    • Avoid having one-to-one meetings with the bully if you have already complained about the bullying
  • Document everything
    • Maintain contemporaneous notes of what you said and did, and what others said and did
    • Keep memos, emails and other documents that are evidential of bullying
    • Especially if you get bullied in private, consider using a pocket voice recorder (smartphone) to obtain a verbatim transcript.
  • Think and operate strategically
    • Remember there are things in life you can control, things you can influence, and things you cannot do anything about. Ultimately, the only thing you can control is you. Attempting to persuade your employer to act responsibly can be pointless and thus painful, but it is in your interests to try not to fret about it if it does not work. Focus your attention on what you can do and are doing.
    • There is a risk that any mistakes you make as a result of being bullied, any sickness absence, and any illness will be used by a bully to discredit you. Most of what a bully throws at you is designed to provoke a response that can be used against you.
    • Understand this and avoid responding directly to such provocations;
    • Always act reasonably and in doing so, a contrast will emerge between your behaviour and the bully's;
    • Accept that this probably is not enough to make it stop;
    • Remember that there is more to you than your job, and try not to take it too seriously;
    • Remember that once you decide to resist the bullying, you may be in for the "long haul";
  • Seek but do not depend on support from other managers or trade union.
    • If they give tell-tale signs that they do not believe you or do not support you, do not keep hoping that they will support you.
    • Seek independent support from neutral third parties.
    • Get some help, but think about the interests and personal agendas of the people you hope to trust;
    • Consider who is or might be facilitating the bullying, and avoid confiding in them.
  • Equip yourself with your employer's policies and procedures, and make sure that YOU follow them, and encourage others to do the same;
    • Be 100% fair and reasonable, even when standing your ground;
    • Always maintain your dignity and be polite, even in the face of rudeness;
    • If you can, have a trusted companion with you as a witness in any meeting to discuss bullying. If you don't have a companion you can trust, make sure you have an audio recorder;
    • Remember that everything you write, say and do might one day be discussed in a court or tribunal, so make sure your actions are beyond reproach and justifiable. Don't do or say anything that you would not wish to repeat in public;

Notes of formal and semi formal meetings often contain omissions or note-takers' conflicting perceptions of what was said, leading to disputes over the accuracy of the minutes. Eliminate the possibility of such disputes by making audio recordings of meetings about the bullying, even if there is a note taker present. You do not need permission to make accurate notes, and it is very telling when someone who hopes to create a record of the meeting they want, rather than the meeting they had, objects to you making an audio recording. If there are objections, record the meeting one way or another.

Keep any recordings and notes strictly confidential and use them only for legitimate purposes. A covert recording of a confidential meeting could be perceived by an employer as a breach of trust, leading to disciplinary action A court or tribunal might only consider covert recording as legitimate conduct where the recording discloses a more significant breach of trust by someone else.

  • If you have tried the above and it is not working out, seriously consider changing jobs.
    • Even though it is unfair that you should have to leave, it is better to do so on your terms, when you choose, with your mental health, disciplinary record and sickness absence record intact, than to stick it out, battling an insuperable force, and being dismissed on some specious misconduct charge after exhausting your entitlement to paid sick leave, suffering from depression.
    • If you are considering leaving, consider your legal options as well - you may have recourse through the legal system but remember to put your health and wellbeing before any other consideration.

What can you do if one of your employees is accused of bullying?

  • Do not ignore it
  • It is possible for a complaint to be faked, or for a complainant to be mistaken. It is also possible that they may be right. Therefore, do not presume anything and do not make decisions based on rumours.
  • Be aware of the modus operandi of bullies and their special talents for flattery and for acquiring a following.
  • In a dispute over bullying, the bully is likely to be the one with the most witnesses until enough people decide that it is safe to speak out.
  • Do not try to understand what drives the bully's behaviour. Concentrate on their actions rather than psychological causes.
  • Get support. Use HR professionals and occupational psychologists. Use external specialists if your environment might restrict the freedom of an internal partner to objectively assess the situation
  • Be prepared to dismiss an employee that bullies others. The more influence they have over your results, the more they should behave well. If you tolerate bad behaviour among people who drive your bottom line, you will give the message "We want the results and we don't care what you do to achieve them". This is the worst message you could give when you remember that bullying at work destroys teams, collaboration and willingness to contribute; it increases staff turnover and puts your business at risk of lawsuits, as well as indicating a high potential for fraud and corruption.
  • Leave no doubt in your employees' minds that it is always safe to speak out.
  • The fact of the complaint discloses something serious, so aim to get to the bottom of it as promptly as possible
  • Listen very carefully to the complainant
  • Establish whether the incidents complained of actually occurred
  • If you do not believe the complainant, get some help from an expert
  • Put your employees' health before anything else
  • Think about the interests and agendas of the people who give you evidence
  • Follow policies and procedures
  • Be 100% fair and reasonable
  • If bullying is occurring, do not make excuses for it - it will happen again and be worse next time.


Elyssa D. Durant © DailyDDoSe™ 2007-2008