Janet Collins
Billy MMonsters at Work
July 16th 2008 13:59
Once again we are hearing a lot about some pretty horrible cases of workplace bullying. It’s an issue that seems to raise its ugly head every now and again and then disappear. This time there are some serious allegations about bullying at Cowra Ambulance Station. In one case it is alleged that the continual bullying of an ambulance officer over some years by her colleagues drove her to commit suicide. In another it was a boss who it is alleged was forced out on stress leave after repeated bullying episodes.
They are allegations at this stage but should we be surprised that something like this has happened? It’s not that workplace bullying has not reared its ugly head over and over. Usually though, it takes a serious incident or two to expose such inhumane behaviour. There was a time it would have been mostly confined to the more blokey industries such as construction, warehousing or transport.
In the Sydney Morning Herald a few days ago, Philip Coorey wrote about the spread of workplace bullying through the public service, the corporate sector and just about anywhere. This reminded me of something I came across quite accidentally a few years back.
While scrolling through the website of the Continuing Education section of Sydney University’s website, (short courses for adults), there was one that stuck out. It was a short course called “Psychopaths in the Workplace”. The course was run by Dr John Clarke, a psychologist who had completed studies in that very area as well as studies in criminal behaviour. I found it quite amusing at first. Not only was the course booked out, the waiting list was full as well.
We may all laugh about the nasty ones at work when we get together but I doubt it is a laughing matter for many of the workers who have been the subject of bullying at work. It can vary in degrees of course from rumour and gossip to humiliation, harassment or worse.
What struck me about the interest in Dr Clarke’s course was that there were many people out there who wanted to know how to deal with bullies. Maybe some had been victims themselves, or known a victim or witnessed bullying and felt powerless to do anything about it.
I didn’t sign up for the course but I did read “Working with Monsters” a book wriiten by Dr Clarke was both curious and fascinated with the subject. I had always wondered by bosses and many people didn’t put a stop to this unacceptable behaviour at work. I still do. In some instances though, (as I learned from the book) they just don’t see it. Others I think just accept bad behaviour towards others as part of working life.
I think we would all agree that we would have been in one of these situations at one time or another. Maybe it was an incident that wasn’t serious enough to make an issue of, or maybe it was. The popularity of the course clearly showed that many needed – and wanted - to know how to cope in situations where either they themselves, or someone else, were the subject of bad treatment at work.
I don’t know if this course is still run by the University but it is certainly some valuable coaching that we could all benefit from. It can very easily become a much more serious problem as job security decreases. The effects of bullying on anyone can cause serious long term damage to their mental wellbeing, probably far longer lasting than physical abuse.
While governments promote the rules of Occupational Health and Safety and Equal Employment Opportunity, they seem to focus on physical danger and clear cases of race or gender discrimination. Turning a blind eye to cases of workplace torment in all its forms is totally inexcusable.
They are allegations at this stage but should we be surprised that something like this has happened? It’s not that workplace bullying has not reared its ugly head over and over. Usually though, it takes a serious incident or two to expose such inhumane behaviour. There was a time it would have been mostly confined to the more blokey industries such as construction, warehousing or transport.
In the Sydney Morning Herald a few days ago, Philip Coorey wrote about the spread of workplace bullying through the public service, the corporate sector and just about anywhere. This reminded me of something I came across quite accidentally a few years back.
While scrolling through the website of the Continuing Education section of Sydney University’s website, (short courses for adults), there was one that stuck out. It was a short course called “Psychopaths in the Workplace”. The course was run by Dr John Clarke, a psychologist who had completed studies in that very area as well as studies in criminal behaviour. I found it quite amusing at first. Not only was the course booked out, the waiting list was full as well.
We may all laugh about the nasty ones at work when we get together but I doubt it is a laughing matter for many of the workers who have been the subject of bullying at work. It can vary in degrees of course from rumour and gossip to humiliation, harassment or worse.
What struck me about the interest in Dr Clarke’s course was that there were many people out there who wanted to know how to deal with bullies. Maybe some had been victims themselves, or known a victim or witnessed bullying and felt powerless to do anything about it.
I didn’t sign up for the course but I did read “Working with Monsters” a book wriiten by Dr Clarke was both curious and fascinated with the subject. I had always wondered by bosses and many people didn’t put a stop to this unacceptable behaviour at work. I still do. In some instances though, (as I learned from the book) they just don’t see it. Others I think just accept bad behaviour towards others as part of working life.
I think we would all agree that we would have been in one of these situations at one time or another. Maybe it was an incident that wasn’t serious enough to make an issue of, or maybe it was. The popularity of the course clearly showed that many needed – and wanted - to know how to cope in situations where either they themselves, or someone else, were the subject of bad treatment at work.
I don’t know if this course is still run by the University but it is certainly some valuable coaching that we could all benefit from. It can very easily become a much more serious problem as job security decreases. The effects of bullying on anyone can cause serious long term damage to their mental wellbeing, probably far longer lasting than physical abuse.
While governments promote the rules of Occupational Health and Safety and Equal Employment Opportunity, they seem to focus on physical danger and clear cases of race or gender discrimination. Turning a blind eye to cases of workplace torment in all its forms is totally inexcusable.
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Comment by colocountry
A. Possibly it is the preference of the vast majority of us to choose not to see lest we become embroiled in processes and people that confront them. It is easier to pretend that all is well than to risk confrontation.