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Stop the bullies
1Middlesex University.
Summary
This article provides guidance for victims and bystanders of workplace bullying, harassment, and abuse. It highlights the prevalence of these issues, with a significant portion of National Health Service (NHS) staff reporting such experiences.
Area of Science:
- Workplace Health and Safety
- Organizational Psychology
- Medical Ethics
Background:
- Workplace bullying, harassment, and abuse are significant issues affecting healthcare professionals.
- The 2011 National Health Service (NHS) staff survey indicated a high prevalence, with 1 in 7 respondents experiencing such mistreatment.
- These behaviors negatively impact staff well-being and the work environment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To offer practical guidance for individuals experiencing or witnessing workplace bullying, harassment, or abuse.
- To empower victims and bystanders to speak out effectively.
- To raise awareness about the widespread nature of these problems in professional settings.
Main Methods:
- Guidance is presented through practical advice and actionable steps.
- The article synthesizes common scenarios and recommended responses.
- Information is framed for easy understanding and application by healthcare staff.
Main Results:
- Speaking out is encouraged as a crucial step in addressing bullying, harassment, and abuse.
- Bystander intervention is presented as a vital component of a supportive workplace.
- The guidance aims to foster a culture of accountability and respect.
Conclusions:
- Effective strategies exist for addressing and reporting workplace mistreatment.
- Creating a safe and respectful work environment requires collective effort from individuals and the organization.
- Early intervention and open communication are key to mitigating the impact of bullying, harassment, and abuse.
Related Concept Videos
Bullying
A modern form of aggression is bullying. As you learn in your study of child development, socializing and playing with other children is beneficial for children’s psychological development. However, as you may have experienced as a child, not all play behavior has positive outcomes. Some children are aggressive and want to play roughly. Other children are selfish and do not want to share toys. One form of negative social interactions among children that has become a national concern is bullying.
Aggression
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Groupthink
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Bystander Effect
The discussion of bullying highlights the problem of witnesses not intervening to help a victim. This is a common occurrence, as the following well-publicized event demonstrates. In 1964, in Queens, New York, a 19-year-old woman named Kitty Genovese was attacked by a person with a knife near the back entrance to her apartment building and again in the hallway inside her apartment building. When the attack occurred, she screamed for help numerous times and eventually died from her stab wounds.
Robbers Cave
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension could be...

