The Anatomy of Mobbing’s Acts.

INTRODUCTION

            Mobbing, (bullying, malicious, nonsexual, nonracial moral harassement)  is emotional abuse at the workplace, “ganging up” by co-workers (14%), subordinates (much more rare- 5%) or superiors(81%)[1]. This is a psychological warfare waged by a perverse individual (or by a group) against an individual designed for one or another reason (generally, mobbing is motivated by jealousy, or some sort of basic frustration and insecurity in the mobber)[2]. Mobbing can be defined as any abusive behaviour, words (ridiculising, jokes), acts, writings, which can attack the personality, the dignity or the physical or mental integrity of a person, endanger her job or spoil the working climate.

Mobbing’s aim is force  someone out of the workplace through rumor, innuendo, intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, isolation.

Dr. Heinz Leymann , German psychologist and  M.D. in psychiatry, has pioneered the research on this workplace phenomenon that he named mobbing in Sweden in the 80's.
About 10% of the EU's working population has experienced physical or psychological harassment in their place of work[3].  The current knowledge is only the top of the iceberg. "High-risk" jobs  are nursing, social work and teaching. Worker’s productivity can be reduced as a result of psychological violence alone. Results also highlight the significant negative financial and productivity implications of violence and harassment at work. These are reflected in higher absenteeism rates, ill health and early retirement, high staff turnover and increased insurance premiums. Both physical and psychological violence also has serious implications for health and well-being, causing stress disorders and suicidal tendencies[4]. 

Bullying is a health hazard to the person targeted: depression, poor concentration, forgetfulness, irritability, loss of sleep, severe anxiety, fatigue, shattered faith in self-competence, feelings of worthlessness, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders), suicidal thoughts .

Physical health problems are:  itching, skin disorders, menstrual difficulties, more colds, flu, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, hair loss, high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, heart attack and more others.
Pathology of social relations are among others:  co-worker isolation from personal fear, co-worker resentment, attempts to silence you, wavering support from family, divorce by immediate family abandonment by friends outside work.
In the professional sphere, mobbing is generally "limited" to the psychological destruction of the victim[5] .Work injury has  many faces!  Bullying is hazardous to worker ‘s health. It causes psychological trauma (INJURY).

IS A NEW EXPRESSION NECESSARY?

Bully (mobber) treats his victim as an object, a toll. He does not feel any remorse when destroying him. This is a kind of vandalism (wandalism),  which he commits in his employer- a human being.  At the some time, as written above,  it is a psychological injury. Mobbing consists of many  such single acts. In the course the years they become hundread or thousands.

The bellow scheme points to an advisability of introducing  a new expression describing single acts, for the bully (mobber) who treat his victim as an object, only acts of wandalism, are a kind of psychological injury. After they cause psychological and physical damages for which not only a victim pays a price but the whole society as well. 

Pict.1. Bus  stop:	Specialist:
This is also bus stop:	This is also specialist :

Numerous smal injuries, numerous acts of wanjurism led to great damages.

Can they function normally after /having suffered from such injuries/ ?

Many single acts of wanjurism create a pathology called mobbing or moral harassement.

SUMMARY

How to prevent mobbing? What is mobbing’s treatment? The only long-term solution  is to remove the stressor (H.Seyle). Separation from the bully is an imperative first step. To argue otherwise prolongs the target's misery[6].

The mobber operates by refusing direct communication: denying the existence of a conflict enables the mobber to paralyze the victim who cannot react to the agression.
The language of the mobber is deformed: reproaches or insults are never expressed directly, but implicitly - there is always a double meaning to his words. The sarcastic scorn of the mobber is accepted by the victim because she believes him to be superior, while, in reality, he is affected by frustration, complexes and insecurity.
Language of the mobber and his subtle message perverts the behaviour of the immediate environment towards the victim, who is then perceived as being a problematic person. This leads to division, and thus to a further increase of the mobbers domination.

Psychological resistance and support is crucial, but unfortunately little reliance can be put on friends, for they are generally "contaminated" by the propaganda of the mobber[7].
              Moral harassment, wanjurysation acts, are very difficult to discover: indeed, generally, for the reasons explained above, harassment is "invisible".

             While often not prepared to deal with this problem, the work-doctors are getting more and more informed and are maybe somewhat readier to help the victim prove that single acts of wanjurism create a pathology called mobbing. The guidelines prioritize the development of a human-centered workplace culture based on dignity, non-discrimination, equal opportunity and cooperation, including a clear policy statement on violence at work from the top management and awareness raising initiatives at all levels[8].

(John A.Hahn ,  Austr.J.of Workpsych.(57).5.2002.260-264.)

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