Workplace Bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms:
- Verbal abuse.
- Offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating or intimidating
- Work interference — sabotage — which prevents work from getting done.
Workplace Bullying...
- Is driven by perpetrators' need to control the targeted individual(s).
- Is initiated by bullies who choose their targets, timing, location and methods.
- Escalates to involve others who side with the bully either voluntarily through coercion.
- Undermines legitimate business interests when bullies' personal agendas take precedence over work itself.
- Is domestic violence at work where the abuser is on the payroll.
Read more about Bullying in comparison to Schoolyard Bullying, Workplace Violence and Incivility.
Synonyms which reflect the seriousness of bullying: Psychological Violence, Psychological Harassment, Personal Harassment, 'Status-Blind' Harassment, Mobbing, Emotional Abuse at Work
Euphemisms intended to trivialize bullying and its impact on bullied people: Incivility, Disrespect, Difficult People, Negative Conduct, Ill Treatment
Not calling bullying "bullying" in order to avoid offending the sensibilities of those who made the bullying possible is a disservice to bullied individuals whose jobs, careers and health have been threatened as the result. Tom Engelhardt said it wisely when he said, "Words denied mean analyses not offered, things not grasped, surprise not registered, strangeness not taken in, all of which means that terrible mistakes are repeated, wounding ways of acting in the world never seriously reconsidered. The words' absence chains you to the present, to what's accepted and acceptable."
Special note about Domestic Violence and Bullying
Being bullied at work most closely resembles the experience of being a battered spouse. The abuser inflicts pain when and where he chooses, keeping the target (victim) off balance knowing that violence can happen on his whim but dangling the hope that safety is possible during a period of peace of unknown duration. The target is kept close to the abuser by the nature of the relationship between them -- husband to wife or boss to subordinate or co-worker to co-worker.
Read more about domestic violence and bullying.
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