For most people, work is central to their survival—it’s how they make a living for themselves and those they care about and how they pay their way in the world. Work is also about belonging to something larger than oneself, and the relationships that are part of the workplace support that sense of belonging. When work is recognized as central to survival and belonging, it’s a lot less surprising that many victims don’t easily get over workplace mobbing and go on to develop symptoms of PTSD and/or depression.
Overcoming Mobbing: A Recovery Guide for Workplace Aggression and Bullying by Maureen Duffy Ph.D., Len Sperry Ph.D.
This sounds fascinating! I am positive I was the victim of this as a certain group of cronies gathered behind my back and nearly ruined me over the course of several years when my Six Sigma project reviewed concrete data that no one wanted exposed.
You’ve hit on the professional reason behind my interest. Currently, I work in Information Security, but I have been in IT many years. People who are trying to commit a crime need a cover. When everyone in a office is completely focused on the office drama (and trying NOT to become a victim of the viscous nastiness) they are not paying attention to the changes being made to a computer system, modifications to an accounting ledger, etc. When it comes right down to it, this is basic social engineering.
Of course, some people do this sort of thing for fun, ego-boosting and career advancement. I don’t really understand that kind of behavior, but many corporate culture’s allow and encourage it – which opens the company to criminal activity (as noted above).
Simply treating your coworkers with respect, and enforcing that behavior as the company standard, can reduce risk AND improve productivity/moral – why wouldn’t you do that?
(shrug)
Who knows.