MOBBING

According to a definition given by the International Labor Organization, mobbing or workplace bullying is offensive behavior through vindictive, cruel, malicious or humiliating attempts to undermine an individual or a group (of employees). Of course, using analogy, this can easily be transferred outside of the context of the workplace, and into other realities, such as school, university or another kind of activity that requires you to work in teams.

MOBBING EXPLAINED

In order for a behavior to be considered mobbing, it needs to be done:

repeatedly,
over a significant period of time,
it has to be non-physical,
and have a humiliating effect on the bullied person.

Mobbing is not a single action, but a series of one or more different actions over a longer period of time. The object of mobbing is most often the exclusion or punishment of a person. Prof. Heinz Leymann gave a list of 45 actions that are considered mobbing, if they occur over half a year or longer, and at least once per week:

ATTACKS ON THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPRESSING ONESELF

Being limited in the possibility of expressing oneself
Being constantly interrupted
The possibility of expressing itself is limited by colleagues
Being shouted at or told off
Constant criticism of one’s work
Constant criticism of one’s private life
Telephone terror (if you are getting unwanted calls, messages and other content over your phone)
Verbal threats
Written threats
Refusal of contact through devaluing views or gestures (for example, if someone judges you because you come from a village or small town)
Refusal of contact by suggestions, without expressing anything directly

EFFFECTS ON SOCIAL REPUTATION

Bad-mouthing the person
Rumors are spread about the person
The bullied person is made to seem ridiculous
Expressing suspicion that someone is psychologically ill
Seeking to force someone to undergo psychiatric investigation
Scoffing at a handicap
Imitating someone’s walk, voice or gestures to make them look ridiculous
Attacks on person’s political or religious views
Making fun of person’s private life
Making fun of their nationality
The person is forced to carry out work which offends their self-confidence
The work input is judged in a false or insulting way
Decisions are questioned
Making the person the subject of obscene incentives or other degrading expressions
Making the person the subject of sexual approaches or offers

ATTACKS ON SOCIAL RELATIONS

The person is ignored (this usually implies being ignored by your superior at work, teacher/professor at school or college)
The person is not allowed to express themselves
Transfer into a room far away from colleagues
(Work) colleagues are not allowed to talk to the person
Being ignored by colleagues

PHYSICAL ATTACKS WITH AN IMPACT ON THE HEALTH

Obligation to carry unhealthy works
Threat of physical force
Application of light pressure in order to “teach someone a lesson”
Physical maltreatment (e.g. punching, slapping…)
Costs are caused in order to harm the person
Material damage is caused at home or on the workstation
Sexual touching

ATTACKS ON THE QUALITY OF OCCUPATION AND LIFE

No work is assigned
Useless work functions given (for example, if someone gives you two boxes of pens to test which ones are working, and when you are done, they mix them back together and asks you to do it again)
The person is assigned work which doesn’t respond to their qualification (for example, if you are employed as a lawyer, and your boss asks you to watch their kids while they are on a meeting)
The person is constantly assigned new functions
The person concerned is given offensive work functions (for example, you are employed as a software engineer, and you are asked to clean the toilets)
The person is given work functions which exceed their qualification in order to compromise their reputation (for example, you are asked to lead a public procurement process, while you have no knowledge / education on how to do it)

We should make distinction between workplace bullying, conflict and harassment. The simplest way to look at conflict is to see it as a disagreement. It could be said that mobbing is “exaggerated conflict”, and that it “evolves” from conflict after a certain time – that sometimes happens very quickly, and sometimes it takes months. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every conflict will grow into mobbing – this is why it is important to address it early. The other term we mentioned is harassment. The verb “to harass” is defined as “to disturb or irritate persistently”, and mobbing almost always manifests as some form of harassment. As you can see from this, mobbing/bullying consists of both, conflict and harassment, and what makes it different from them is duration. If some of the actions we listed above happen once, they could be treated as conflict or harassment (which still can, and should, be addressed), but to be treated as mobbing, there would need to be a continuity of at least half a year.

MEASSURES AGAINTS MOBBING

There are multiple measures you can take in order to protect yourself against mobbing or bullying. We can separate them into two categories: preventive measures and intervention. When it comes to preventive measures, you could achieve this by learning more about mobbing and bullying, discussing it with your team, and giving them introduction to this topic – you can do it through leaflets, articles or even videos.

When it comes to intervention – it is important to stop the bully and to support the victim. Stopping the bully often requires help from outside of the team; it can be attempted by mediation, but also by taking legal action against the bully. If this is happening in a workplace or some other place that has hierarchy, it is recommended to communicate with your superior (teacher, professor, boss, coach) or with the Human Resource department. If you are being bullied, if it is possible and if it would not put you into harm’s way, it is recommended to collect and keep evidence. When it comes to supporting the victim – this support can come through professional rehabilitation, psychotherapy, self-help groups and also medical therapy.

DICLAIMER

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ANPCDEFP. Neither the European Union nor the ANPCDEFP can be held responsible for them.