Bullying in the Workplace
Bullying in the Workplace: Who is Involved, What are the Effects, and Prevention
Michelle Green
Wilmington University
What is Workplace Bullying?
The word bullying is usually associated with playground taunting and teasing, schoolhouse villains known for stealing lunches and lunch money, or maybe high school “cool kids” picking on the “geeks”. Bullying however has made its way from childhood memories to real-life adult work settings. The epidemic is known as workplace bullying: a repetitive abusive behavior that devalues and harms other people on the job. (Barrow, 2012, p.1) The results of a poll administered by the Workplace Bullying Institute in 2007, show 37 percent of American adults said they had been bullied at work. (Cohen, 2010, p. 1) Work place bullying takes place in verbal abuse, verbal and nonverbal offensive conduct, and behaviors that threaten, humiliate, intimidate, and sabotage and/or interfere with work. (Wiedmer, 2011, p. 35) Everyone has witnessed or been subject to the boss who calls on the weekends or during the early hours of the morning, the supervisor who inappropriately yells and screams during meetings, the manager who slams doors and throws papers, or maybe the leader who demands control by means of fear alone. Everyone has witnessed or experienced workplace bullying in action and most have let it fly.
Workplace Bullying Prevalence “Many bullied employees feel victimized by the bully and the human resource department” (Barrow, 2012, p.1) One of the issues leading to an increase in workplace bullying is the economical decline. In good times bullied workers could just find other employment. But with unemployment rates exceeding 9 percent, and five job seekers per available job abused workers feel as though they have to stay put. Another contributing factor to being bullied on-the-job is the reduction in labor organizations. Unions were once responsible for protecting employees
Michelle Green
Wilmington University
What is Workplace Bullying?
The word bullying is usually associated with playground taunting and teasing, schoolhouse villains known for stealing lunches and lunch money, or maybe high school “cool kids” picking on the “geeks”. Bullying however has made its way from childhood memories to real-life adult work settings. The epidemic is known as workplace bullying: a repetitive abusive behavior that devalues and harms other people on the job. (Barrow, 2012, p.1) The results of a poll administered by the Workplace Bullying Institute in 2007, show 37 percent of American adults said they had been bullied at work. (Cohen, 2010, p. 1) Work place bullying takes place in verbal abuse, verbal and nonverbal offensive conduct, and behaviors that threaten, humiliate, intimidate, and sabotage and/or interfere with work. (Wiedmer, 2011, p. 35) Everyone has witnessed or been subject to the boss who calls on the weekends or during the early hours of the morning, the supervisor who inappropriately yells and screams during meetings, the manager who slams doors and throws papers, or maybe the leader who demands control by means of fear alone. Everyone has witnessed or experienced workplace bullying in action and most have let it fly.
Workplace Bullying Prevalence “Many bullied employees feel victimized by the bully and the human resource department” (Barrow, 2012, p.1) One of the issues leading to an increase in workplace bullying is the economical decline. In good times bullied workers could just find other employment. But with unemployment rates exceeding 9 percent, and five job seekers per available job abused workers feel as though they have to stay put. Another contributing factor to being bullied on-the-job is the reduction in labor organizations. Unions were once responsible for protecting employees
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