March 15th, 2013

Abuse at Work: Still not taboo after all these years

At WBI we define workplace bullying as health-harming. It not only triggers a host of stress-related diseases that compromise the bullied target’s health, in its severest forms, it is another form of interpersonal abuse. Yes, abuse. Not simply eye-rolling as trivializing critics mischaracterize it. Bullying is a non-physical form of workplace violence. A systematic campaign of interpersonal destruction launched by a single instigator and executed by many joiners. It becomes an attack by many against the lone principled and shocked target.

American society reacts oddly to workplace bullying. Those to whom it has happened (35% of adult Americans) do not doubt its seriousness. Those with no experience are inclined to doubt and castigate the victims as somehow deficient. But we can’t wait for everyone to personally experience it before they agree to stop it.

There is precedent that even in the indisputably violent culture that is the U.S. some forms of abuse have been acknowledged to be morally wrong and prohibited — not eliminated — but frowned upon and condemned. They are taboo — not workplace bullying. Read more….

via Abuse at Work: Still not taboo after all these years | WBI.

Related articles

• WBI Survey: Two Thirds of U.S. Companies Address Workplace Bullying (bullyinworkplace.com)
• Top #3 Harmful Definitions of Workplace Bullying (bullyinworkplace.com)
• “Malice” & The Healthy Workplace Bill (bullyinworkplace.com)
• One in Three workers fall victim to workplace bullying (indiavision.com)
• 1 in 3 workers victim of workplace bullying (mnn.com)
• Depth of workplace bullying revealed (news.com.au)
• Growing push to halt workplace bullying (sacbee.com)
• Even Adults In The Workplace Have To Deal With Bullies (miami.cbslocal.com)
• Efforts grow to halt workplace bullying (toledoblade.com)
• Beware of the Big Bad Bully (janheath1234.wordpress.com)