Workplace Bullying - Forms

Forms

Tim Field suggested that workplace bullying takes these forms:

• Serial bullying — the source of all dysfunction can be traced to one individual, who picks on one employee after another and destroys them, then moves on. Probably the most common type of bullying.
• Secondary bullying — the pressure of having to deal with a serial bully causes the general behaviour to decline and sink to the lowest level.
• Pair bullying — this takes place with two people, one active and verbal, the other often watching and listening.
• Gang bullying or group bullying — is a serial bully with colleagues. Gangs can occur anywhere, but flourish in corporate bullying climates. It is often called mobbing and usually involves scapegoating and victimisation.
• Vicarious bullying — two parties are encouraged to fight. This is the typical "triangulation" where the aggression gets passed around.
• Regulation bullying — where a serial bully forces their target to comply with rules, regulations, procedures or laws regardless of their appropriateness, applicability or necessity.
• Residual bullying — after the serial bully has left or been fired, the behavior continues. It can go on for years.
• Legal bullying — the bringing of a vexatious legal action to control and punish a person. It is one of the nastiest forms of bullying.
• Pressure bullying or unwitting bullying — having to work to unrealistic time scales and/or inadequate resources.
• Corporate bullying — where an employer abuses an employee with impunity, knowing the law is weak and the job market is soft.
• Organizational bullying — a combination of pressure bullying and corporate bullying. Occurs when an organization struggles to adapt to changing markets, reduced income, cuts in budgets, imposed expectations and other extreme pressures.
• Institutional bullying — entrenched and is accepted as part of the culture.
• Client bullying — an employee is bullied by those they serve, for instance subway attendants or public servants.
• Cyber bullying — the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.