Bullying Guide

Harassment and bullying can sometimes be confused; harassment is generally unwanted and offending behaviour usually on a racial or sexual theme. Sexual harassment occurs when the attacks happen based on your gender or sexual orientation. Racial harassment is when the attacks happen because of the colour of your skin, race or cultural background.

Bullying is persistent unwanted behaviour which hurts or threatens a person regardless of sex or race. Harassment is covered by the discrimination act and the protection from harassment act but bullying is not, so clear decisions have to be made to determine whether you are the victim of harassment or being bullied. The main differences between bullying in the workplace and harassment are:

Harassment

Usually has a physical edge to it such as touching, intrusion into your personal space and damage done to your possessions.

Bullying

Is mostly psychological for example criticism about work or stealing work from you to use as their ideas.

Harassment

You are the focus of attention because of who you are for example, a woman, the colour of your skin or disabled.

Bullying

Anyone will do regardless of the colour of skin, sex or competence.

Harassment

Could just be a few incidents or many over time.

Bullying

Bullying is very rarely just a single occurrence and happens frequently.

Harassment

The victim realises they are being harassed straight away.

Bullying

The victim doesn’t realise what is happening to them at first.

Harassment

If there is an assault it is usually of a sexual or indecent nature.

Bullying

Bullying almost never consists of assaults of a sexual nature but mainly physical such as pushing or punching and is often mental abuse.

Harassment

There is often an element of being possessive for example stalking a person.

Bullying

Bullying is usually about controlling the person there and then, for example frightening someone or making them feel small in front of others.

Harassment

Offensive language relating to the colour of your skin or sex is often used such as “bitch” or “nigger”.

Bullying

Swear words can be used but in a different context and usually to state that you are useless or worthless.

Harassment

The problem occurs with the person both in and outside of work.

Bullying

The problem with the person only occurs in the workplace.

Harassment

The person sees the victim as easy prey.

Bullying

The victim is seen as a threat which must be controlled.

Harassment

The person will often have specific inadequacies in their life such as sexual problems.

Bullying

The bully will be inadequate in all areas of life.

Filed under: Bullying Guide: Learning About & Dealing With Bullying

Pressure bullying or unwitting bullying

This type of bullying occurs when stress causes the behaviour to deteriorate and a person will become short tempered, maybe curse a lot and be easily irritated. Most of us will have felt like this at sometimes or other but we can usually deal with it and it has no serious consequences on others and once the pressure has passed our behaviour returns to normal.

We will often feel silly and apologise for our behaviour and any offence it caused others. The bully though will have no control of it and this behaviour happens more frequently and they take it out on people around them, they feel no remorse and the thought of an apology will never enter their heads.

Corporate bullying

This type of bullying in the workplace occurs when the employer abuses employees knowing full well that people will be afraid to stand up to them for fear of losing their job. Instances of corporate bullying are:

* Forcing employees to work more than 60/70 hours on a regular basis, indicating to those that refuse there are plenty of people out there who would work those hours given the chance.

* Denies employees annual leave or sick leave to which they are entitled to.

* Sees any employee as weak or inadequate if they are prone to stress, while denying and refusing to take responsibility that they are a cause of the stress.

* Encourages an employee usually with promises of promotion or threats of disciplinary action to make complaints about colleagues.

Client bullying

This type of bullying occurs when employees are being bullied by those they serve for example a teacher being bullied by pupils, nurses and carers being bullied by those they take care of or shop staff being bullied by customers.

Secondary bullying

This type of bullying usually is unwittingly done and often occurs when bullying is rife in the workplace and the general behaviour of all employees decreases to the point when they start turning on others

Gang bullying

Gang bullying is often predominant in cooperate bullying and bullies will work in a gang to accomplish what they want to achieve. A common tactic used by gang bullying is telling everyone a different story, usually about what each have said about the person to get them against each other. Gang bullying is also called mobbing and usually involves victimisation and scapegoating

It is thought that over 75% of all cases reported of bullying in the workplace are done by managers or supervisors and that bullying is more wide spread than documented, the main reason for bullying in the workplace not being reported is fear of losing the job and further victimisation.

Filed under: Bullying Guide: Learning About & Dealing With Bullying